by Falicia Love
She called Rone one day to ask about Dana. “Hey, Rone.”
“Hey, how are you doing, Emily? Are they at least treating you okay?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. Have you heard from Dana? I haven’t heard a peep from her in a day or so. She has been stuck in her cell. We are kind of worried about her,” she explained.
“No, but I will see if I can get someone I trust to go check on her. You know how that goes.”
“Yes, I do. Well, I’m not gonna hold you any longer. I just wanted to give you the scoop on your daughter.”
“Emily, I do thank you for keeping my secret until I was able to tell her,” Rone said.
He sat back on his couch and wondered what was going on with Dana. He knew that she was a loner mostly on the outside, but he couldn’t imagine what she was doing or why she wasn’t going out of her cell in jail. He was told that she had a roommate and the roommate was into the Bible. He needed to get his daughter out of that hellhole and quickly. He racked his brain trying to formulate a plan, and after a few hours he finally came up with one. He immediately placed a few calls, requesting more favors that were owed to him.
* * *
“Emily Jackson! You have a visitor,” one of the guards yelled in her cell.
She got up and got ready, and when she was ready, the guard took her down to visitation. There, she was greeted by an attorney.
“Hello, my name is Mr. Ford, and Mr. Rone hired me to represent you. How are you doing, Ms. Jackson?”
“I’m as good as can be expected in this place,” she replied.
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s a lot different being on the other side of the law,” Ford stated.
Emily frowned but didn’t say a word.
“I have a few documents for you to sign, and if these guards give you any trouble about taking this back with you let me know. You are a detective—well, you were—so you know that what we say is privileged. Those documents are privileged as well,” he explained.
They talked for a few minutes and then Emily looked over the paperwork. She quickly looked at him. “Is this for real?”
“As real as it gets!” He smiled.
“Are you sure this is the route we need to take?” she asked.
“Is that not a good deal?” he asked.
“It’s the best thing I’ve heard since I got in this mess,” she replied.
“Well, all right. So it’s a go?” he asked.
“Hell yeah, it is! Thank you so much!” She smiled.
“Just doing my job, ma’am.”
They ended their conversation, and Emily was escorted back to her cell. She prayed that everything she read in those documents went smoothly.
* * *
Later, Emily walked into Dana’s cell and saw her crumbled on the floor. She was unresponsive and barely breathing. She ran out of the cell screaming for help.
Two of the guards raced over to see what was going on and immediately called for the paramedics. Emily stood back with tears in her eyes. As they were bringing her out, they were doing CPR on her. In the distance, she heard a scream echo throughout the cellblock. Brittany had caught sight of her friend being taken out on a stretcher. It took several guards to contain her while the area was cleared for Dana.
Once they put her in the ambulance, they called ahead to the hospital to inform them that they had a young female Dana Crisp arriving DOA!
Brittany was placed in her cell, and Emily was stuck in shock of everything. She sat with her mouth agape, speechless. The good news she had gotten earlier meant nothing to her now. She had learned that she was going to go before the judge, and because of misplaced evidence, she would be released on multiple technicalities.
An hour later they were given the news that Dana had died. Emily’s joy of going home was short-lived as she mourned her favorite cousin.
Brittany had heard the news and flipped out. She had to be sedated, and later that week she was sent to a mental health hospital. She had stopped eating, talking, and bathing. She simply gave up on life.
* * *
A few days later, Emily went in front of the judge, and after reprimanding her, the judge had no other choice but to release her. It seemed that all the evidence against them had been lost. Brittany could’ve gotten off as well, but she had sealed her fate by confessing to a murder that had nothing to do with the fire.
When Emily left the jail, she was picked up by Rone. They rode in silence for about a mile before she spoke. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay, I guess,” he replied.
“So what have you been doing with yourself?” she asked.
“Just trying to keep my head above water. I never imagined my life would turn out like this,” he admitted.
“Me either. I’m not sure where you can drop me off. I have nowhere to go.”
He smiled sadly. “I’m going to leave town tomorrow. There isn’t anything else keeping me here.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Oh, and thank you for helping me get out,” she said.
“My plan was to get all of you out. I had no idea that Brittany had pled guilty to murdering Debra, but I guess things happen for a reason.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
There was about twenty minutes of silence as they drove. Then she asked, “So where are we going?”
“Thought I’d say my final good-byes to Dana. You know, it’s bittersweet.”
“What is?” Emily asked.
“How we end up together to do one last check on Dana.”
Emily didn’t say a word. After riding about two and a half miles into another state, Rone turned down a long driveway. He parked his car in the garage of a house.
“I thought we were going to say good-bye to Dana,” Emily said.
“We are,” he replied.
They walked into the house toward a back room. She frowned as she followed Rone into the room. What she saw froze her in her footsteps.
“Well, hell, don’t just stand there. Come and give me a hug!”
“Dana!” Emily cried. “But how?” she asked, searching her face.
Rone said, “Well, I had a friend of mine mix up a li’l something and put it in Dana’s food to make it appear that she was going into cardiac arrest. One of the paramedics who answered the call was Ted. He made sure that they were in close proximity to the jail and when the call was dispatched they answered. Dana arrived at the hospital, and my two guys were waiting for her. They took her to a hospital room where the chaplain identified the body and signed paperwork. Bodies were switched, and she was brought here afterward. I wasn’t able to get her off on a technicality. I couldn’t let them send her away for good. We are leaving in the morning, and you can come with us if you like.”
“I’m definitely coming with.”
The following morning they boarded a private plane and flew to Hawaii.
* * *
Pam was released a few days later from the hospital into Shirley’s care. They had a small funeral with only a few family members and friends present. Jeryca was cremated, and Pam was given her ashes. After receiving instructions from Jeryca before she was killed, Shirley packed up all their belongings and moved to the condo that Jeryca and Orlando had shared. Jeryca had left a package in the condo that included the deed to the condo and a will that left Pam over $175,000 and two cars.
Jeryca had also left a bundle of cash in her back bedroom that belonged to her. Pam found it as she rummaged through what she knew was Jeryca’s closet. It was in a huge manila folder with Pam’s name on it. There was a little over a hundred thousand dollars in it. Two letters were also enclosed: one addressed to Shirley and the other to Pam. Pam opened her letter immediately.
Hey, li’l sister, if you got your hands on this letter I know that you been nosing around in my room, but most importantly, you are okay! I regret so much in my life, li’l sis, and not being there for you is my greatest regret. Baby girl, I had no doubt in my mind that you were all right when those kidnappers c
alled me because my heart was still beating. We have a connection, and I can feel it when you are hurt no matter how far apart we are.
I also know that whoever had you was setting up a trap to get me, and knowing that, I’m guessing that I’m probably dead. You know in life, when you do so many awful things, sooner or later you try to right a few of your wrongs. A few of my regrets rest where you are.
I called Shirley the day after I arrived in Brooklyn and asked her to take care of you in the event that I was killed. You see, I never told you about my childhood, but I can tell you that I do know what it’s like to live with Mom when she is involved with a no-good man. Shirley knows a lot about what happened and one day I want you to sit down and ask her to tell you my story.
You know I love you, sis, and that is the only thing as of late that I will never regret doing. You got to hold it down for me, baby girl, okay? I love you, I love you, I love you! Never ever forget that.
Pam read her letter repeatedly. She smiled as tears streamed down her face. She was going to miss her sister very much, and she felt an empty space inside her. It suddenly hit her hard as the painful reality set in that her sister was gone forever and that she went to Brooklyn to save her knowing she would most likely die.
Pam dropped to her knees and started pleading with God to forgive her sister’s wrongdoings and allow her entrance in heaven. As soon as she finished praying, she looked up and saw Travis standing in front of her.
“Are you okay, Pammy?” he asked.
“Yes, I am, little man. Come here.” She sat back against the bed and placed Travis in her arms. She leaned back and closed her eyes while holding on to Travis tightly. And from out of nowhere, she started singing a verse from the Whitney Houston version of “I Will Always Love You”:
I hope life treats you kind
And I hope you have all you’ve dreamed of
And I wish you joy and happiness
But above all this, I wish you love
As she started in on the verse, she dropped her head against Travis’s head and began to cry. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her and cried right along with her.
Shirley walked in and was stuck in the doorway watching the two individuals she was now in charge of taking care of.
* * *
Sheila didn’t protest when Pam told her that she was going to go to Florida with Shirley. She knew that she had been through enough trauma with her kidnapping and the loss of her sister. She also needed to focus on Todd and see if they could fix their strained relationship.
After Jeryca’s funeral and after Pam left, Sheila walked into her daughter’s old room and looked around. She felt like there was a real emptiness in her home. Her oldest was dead, and as that thought entered her head and her heart she broke down.
Todd came up behind her. “What the fuck are you crying for? You knew that the life your child was living could’ve ended like this. Man, go fix me something to eat.”
Shelia stood up and instantly went into attack mode. Anything she could get her hands on she hit him with. She screamed for him to get the hell out of her house and to never return. She could tolerate almost anything, but her child was dead, and all he could say was that she’d asked for it!
As soon as Todd was out of the house, Shelia called her brother to see if she could stay with him and his wife for a few days.
* * *
Sergio and Ramon weren’t happy to hear that Jeryca and Orlando had been killed. The fact of the matter was that they still owed them money. They knew that the money didn’t just disappear and they wanted it. They called a meeting with Valerie, Desiree, Big Rob, and Alex. They explained that they wanted them to go to Orlando and Jeryca’s house and find their money. They didn’t care who or what got in their way. They knew that the house was being occupied by Jeryca’s baby sister and two other individuals, but they didn’t care. They wanted their money, period.
Valerie and Desiree were placed in charge. They were to get in and out without bringing a lot of unnecessary attention to the condo by being noisy and reckless. Once they left Sergio and Ramon, Valerie told Desiree that they would meet later to put their plans in motion.
She had to go to the doctor. Valerie had found out a few weeks earlier that she was three months pregnant by Zack, but she hadn’t told anyone. She was still grieving the loss of her man and her friend. She had to figure out a way, and quickly, to keep Jeryca’s little sister from getting hurt. She was tired of all the killings. She was tired of being in the game, period. She wanted out, but she knew death would be her only option if she didn’t do something fast. She couldn’t move sloppily, though.
She had plenty of money saved and could make it on half of it. She had to find someone she could trust to help her, but who? She wasn’t going to be responsible for any innocent child losing their life for something they had nothing to do with. Valerie drove around for a while and figured the only person she could call on was the woman who had taken care of Pam and Jeryca their entire lives: Shelia. She knew she had a man who was as greedy as Sergio and Ramon, and she hoped that Shelia had enough love and respect for her kids to want to help. It was going to take a lot of planning, but she could make it work if she planned carefully.
Two Days Later
Shelia arrived in Virginia early in the a.m. She was greeted at the train station by her brother, Barry, and her sister, Angela, whom she hadn’t seen in years. They had lost touch over the years, but Shelia had no one else she could turn to. Her sister embraced her long and tight. Sheila, finally feeling the strain, crumbled to the floor and began to cry. Her brother raced over and grabbed her as she hit the floor. They carried her out of the train station and put her in the car.
For the first few days, she slept constantly. It was the only way to escape the reality of her child being dead. She realized that everything that her kids had been through was because of her. She wasn’t eating and her brother’s wife, Tasha, was very worried about the woman she had just met. She didn’t know much about her, but she knew that her sister-in-law was deep in mourning.
“Baby, don’t you think you need to get your sister up? She hasn’t really eaten since she has been here. Let’s try to get her up and out for a while,” Tasha said.
Barry looked at his wife and sighed. “You’re right. I just don’t know what to say to her. Angela has been calling and asking about her as well. Maybe I need to call her and see if she would like to take her out together. With both of us there she may come to life a little.”
“Yes, because she can grieve herself to death if y’all don’t do something,” Tasha replied.
Tasha went to check on Sheila while Barry called Angela. They decided to take Sheila out the following day.
Sheila agreed to go out to dinner with her brother and sister the following day as long as they let her rest that night.
* * *
Sheila was out with her brother and sister when her phone rang. She first thought it was Pam calling but upon answering it, she learned it wasn’t. After hearing everything that the caller said, she looked at her brother and shook her head. “How in the hell did I let things get this way with my family? I’ve been such a bad mother. What can I do?”
“Baby girl, what’s wrong?” her brother asked.
“That was an old friend of Jeryca’s. Her name is Valerie, and she just informed me that some men are planning on killing Pam because Jeryca owed them money. I can’t lose another child,” Sheila cried.
“What else did she say?” Angela asked.
Sheila filled them in on everything and told her brother that she didn’t have anyone she could send to help her daughter. Barry looked at his two sisters and dropped his head. He couldn’t let Pam die knowing he could’ve helped.
He told Sheila to call back and let him talk to Jeryca’s friend so he could get an idea of what was going to happen. Sheila called Valerie back, and after Barry heard all the details, he agreed to go. He told his two sisters not to mention anything to Tas
ha because she would flip out and he didn’t want that. Instead, they were going to tell her that he was going down to Florida to see if he could convince Pam to come back and see her mother. He was going to tell Tasha that Pam would probably listen to him since they used to be close.
Over the next three days, Barry and Sheila talked to Valerie on a regular basis, and it was decided that Sheila was in no shape to help them, even though she fought to go. Barry was to leave on Wednesday morning on the bus to Florida. Valerie was going to have a friend of hers pick him up. She told him that if everything went okay, he would be leaving Florida with a bountiful amount of cash. She told him to expect to be gone for at least two weeks but no more than four. They had to execute her plan with care because any slip could get all of them killed, including Pam.
* * *
Three weeks after Sergio and Ramon instructed Valerie and Desiree to find the money that Orlando and Jeryca owed him, Valerie was ready to make her move. She called Sergio and asked if he had seen Desiree. She told him that she needed to see when she would be ready to check Orlando and Jeryca’s condo. Desiree and two of Sergio’s men had staked out the condo, but while they were staking out the condo, Barry and Terry were staking them out. Valerie made sure they that they knew everything they needed to know. Terry was an old player who used to run drugs for Ramon, but Ramon caught him using the drugs instead of selling them. Terry went into hiding but kept in touch with Valerie from time to time. Valerie knew he would be willing to help her take out Sergio and Ramon just so he could come out of hiding.
After Valerie learned Desiree’s whereabouts, she called her sister Hanna and told her and Jeff to meet her at Westfield Estates where Desiree lived. She knew she would be there alone because Ramon and Sergio were at the office.
After forty minutes of driving, Valerie pulled up and instructed Hanna and Jeff to wait for her to text them before they pulled up. She had two hours to do everything she had to do before Sergio came home.