“King says the deal is going to go down Saturday night, but he’s keeping the details of where and when to himself until the last moment,” I tell him.
“Are you sure about this? We’ll have to watch you from a distance then.”
“Yeah, it’s going down. He’s been talking to his contact, Simon, out in L.A. for months now. King’s paying them ten million for the coke.”
“Ten million? This is the biggest deal I’ve ever seen. Once it hits the streets, it’s gonna triple in value.”
“Exactly. This is what we’ve been waiting for—taking these mutherfuckas down. I can also get Damien on at least two murders and a rape charge.”
“Rape charge on whom?” he asks.
“Janelle. He tried to rape her.”
“Really, and what did you do?”
“Nothing, I just got her out of town.”
“Where?”
“Savannah.”
McNiven looks at me oddly, and I know what he’s thinking.
“Why would you send her to Savannah, of all places? Does she know who you are?”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Oh my God, you blow your cover to a girl connected to the fucking people we’re about to bust?”
“She’s not connected to them!”
“You don’t know that for sure! My God, Jayson. You’ve not only put this operation, but also your damn life on the line over this girl! I’m pulling you out.”
“What? Lieutenant, you can’t do that!”
“The hell I can’t! You’ve compromised yourself.”
“No, I haven’t! Listen, you’ve never had anyone as deep as me. If you pull me out now, King will cancel the deal and you’ll never be able to bring him down like this! You cannot throw six months of police work out the window for something that I got under control, and you know it!”
McNiven turns around and looks at me. He knows that I’m right. “Okay, we’ll go ahead, but after this case is completed, you’re done with undercover work.”
“I know. I’m quitting the force after this.”
“What? Why?” he asks.
“Lieutenant, I’ve given ten years of my life to this job. It has cost me my marriage and pretty much my life without anything to show for it. I got a chance now to be with a woman that I love. I’m not gonna lose her, too.”
“You’re serious about this?”
“Dead serious.”
“All right, if that’s your decision. Saturday morning you’ll get a wire and we’ll get this done,” he says.
“Good.” I turn and walk to my car and drive off. As soon as this is done, I’m gonna start being Jayson Harper again.
When I get to my place, I see Quan parked in front of my townhouse. I pull up next to him and get out.
“What’s up, Quan?”
“Yo, man, I think you need to come with me,” Quan says gravely.
“What’s going on?”
“Yo, Damien and them are doing some real foul shit, man.”
“What are you talking about, man?”
“Ya girl, Nikki . . . Damien found out about her messing around with Dre behind his back.”
“Oh, shit. What did he do?”
“Yo, he brought Corey and me over there and told us to do whatever we wanted with her, and then he bounced. We were wondering what the hell he was talking about, until we went inside and saw your girl tied to the bed, fucked up on some medieval shit. Corey went in, but I broke the fuck outta there, man.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s at Yvonne’s house over on Flat Shoals.”
We drive over there and go into the house and walk to the bedroom. When we walk in, the stench of waste knocks us over.
“Oh God,” I utter. I see Nikki unconscious, naked, and tied to the bed. She’s bloodied and bruised, lying in her own feces.
“Yo, should I call the paramedics?” Quan asks.
“No, we need to go now. Give me a wet towel from the bathroom.”
Quan gets the towel, and I clean her off. Damn, Damien’s a sick fucker for doing this to her. Oh my God, she looks like she was gang-raped and beaten to a pulp. There is a lot of blood between her legs, but she still has a pulse.
I rush her in my car to Southern Regional Hospital on Upper Riverdale Road. The doctors rush her to the emergency room and put her in the intensive care unit. They say she has severe internal hemorrhaging and is still unconscious. She is in critical condition. The doctor says that she was pregnant and suffered a miscarriage as a result of the trauma her body went through. They need to operate in order to remove the fetus.
Here comes the worst part: I have to tell Janelle what happened to her cousin.
DAMIEN
This is the way it should be done. Real niggas handle they business quickly and thoroughly. It’s time for me to step on all these little roaches and rats running around me. First Yvonne’s crack head, then Nikki’s slut ass, and now Dre’s bitch ass. No need to tell King about this shit; this is strictly off the books. I woulda told Tommy, but he woulda only tried to talk me outta doing this now. Tommy’s my nigga, but I can’t let these bitches down here front on me.
I take Corey, Horse and 10 other niggas we got working for us to the Bankhead projects that Dre is hustling out of. I take out my trusty AK-47 and make sure I have four extra clips ready to go. We roll up to the spot Dre’s black Cadillac DeVille is parked in front of and wait to see him. Corey approaches from the other end to box these niggas in.
It’s nightfall, and the corner boys are working the spot while another nigga stands across the street and keeps a lookout for 5-0. I make sure all three cars we drive don’t stick out so we can creep this nigga.
Dre is still supervising the operation, which is small compared to mine. I just wanna make sure I blast this nigga this time.
What’s this dumb nigga doing? Corey’s car starts to move up on the corner with his lights off. Shit! Not yet, ma’fucker!
One of the corner boys spots Corey’s car creeping up and pulls out his gun and starts to blast his car. Corey sticks his nine out of the window and starts to spit shells, hitting two of them. Damn, I didn’t even see Dre’s ass yet and this fool starts blasting!
I drive up from the other end of the street and let the AK spit at these niggas. I hit the lookout boy and open his chest up. Then that ma’fucker Dre comes out of the alley in back of the house with a submachine gun and starts to spray up Corey’s car. I’m not sure, but I think Corey gets hit. The driver’s side is Swiss-cheesed up real good.
My nigga Horse starts to bust his .44 Magnum at Dre and hits a nigga next to him. The other nigga in Corey’s car takes over and pulls off. I bust my AK at Dre, but this nigga gets cover behind the house. Shit! This is not how this shit was supposed to go down.
I mash down on the gas and get the hell outta there before the police show up. I bend the corner and run a red light and get on the highway. How many lives does that ma’fucker Dre have? I swear, I’m gonna kill Corey’s punk ass for fucking this up.
We pull off the highway and go under an overpass. I jump out and walk over to Corey’s car.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing, nigga?” I say as I open the driver’s door. I see another nigga driving and Corey dead on the passenger’s side.
“Fuck! Get outta the car and get in the truck!” I yell at the nigga in the car.
“What about Corey?” Horse asks.
“What about him? That nigga’s dead. Let’s go!”
We leave Corey and his car under the overpass and get back on the highway. We head back to College Park. Shit! This whole hit went up in smoke just like that. At least we got four of them niggas. King is gonna flip when this shit gets back to him. Oh, well. He’s just another roach I gotta step on.
When I get back to my spot, Tommy is there waiting for me. “What the hell is going on, Dame?” Tommy says. Tommy is the only cat I know that’s never backed down to me. Either I’m gonna have him by my side run
ning this shit, or I’m gonna have to kill him one day.
“What you think? I had to get at Dre before he got at us.”
“What about Nikki? What the fuck was that about?” Tommy asks me.
“That’s what happens to people who cross me, Tommy. Remember that. Listen, Tommy, you my man and I got love for you, my nigga, but things are going to change, and you gonna have to pick a side.Either you ride with me, or I ride over you. What’s it gonna be?” I say to Tommy as I stare at him in the eyes.
“I told you once, Dame, we ride together, we die together. I’m a man of my word,” Tommy says.
“That’s all I needed to hear, my nigga.”
13
Too Good to Last
JANELLE
I’ve been at Jayson’s apartment in Savannah for two days. It’s not that different from his townhouse in College Park, except for the pictures of his family and this woman in most of these pictures with him. I’m gonna assume that this is Lauren, his ex-wife. It’s so weird seeing Jayson in these pictures. He seems so different. It’s like he’s a totally different person than who I know in Atlanta.
After looking at the photos of Lauren and seeing the kind of woman Vanessa is, I wonder what it is he sees in me. I’m nothing like Vanessa. I don’t wanna be anything like her, but it makes me wonder why Jayson wants me. Am I just a rebound thing he’s using to get over his ex-wife? Or does he just feel sorry for me?
Stop it, Janelle. He loves me. I don’t need to question it; I know it. The way he holds me. The way he kisses me. Hell, he told me he was a cop. He didn’t have to do that. For all he knew, I coulda turned around and told Damien.
I’ve been so worried about him since I found out, like I know something is going to go wrong and I’m going to lose him. Damien is crazy. He doesn’t care what he does. I know that King is the big boss, but Damien scares me more than he does. I just want Jayson and me to be together. I don’t care what happens to Damien or King. I just want him in my arms.
We can just go to Florida and start our lives over together. Jayson doesn’t have to be an undercover cop, and I don’t have to be the ex-stripper everybody stares at. I can just be me. I can be Janelle for a change. I wish it were all that simple.
Since I had to come here, I pretty much gave up my job at Harland. I can still take my classes online and complete my GED. I’ve been thinking that I want to go to college—to do what there, I have no idea. These past few days I’ve been thinking a lot more about what I wanna do. I still can’t make up my mind. I’ve been watching MTV and BET most of the day here anyway. Real productive, I know.
My cell phone starts to ring, and I see Tommy’s name pop up.
“Hello, Jayson?”
“Hey . . .” I can tell something’s wrong by the sound of his voice.
“What’s wrong, Jayson?” I ask him.
“You gotta come back to Atlanta, baby,” Jayson says to me, and I know it can’t be good.
“Why, what happened?”
“Nikki . . . she’s been hurt.”
“Oh God, what happened to her?”
“Just drive back to Atlanta.”
“What happened to her?”
“She’s been hurt pretty bad by Damien,” Jayson says.
The next few minutes are a blur. I somehow manage to get in my car and start to drive back to Atlanta. How could I have been so stupid to leave Nikki with that psycho Damien? I should have told her what he did to me. I should have warned her. I was just thinking of myself when I shoulda been helping her. I knew her being with Damien was dangerous. Shit!
My mind is blown as I start to head toward Southern Regional Hospital. When I get there, I see Jayson and Quan in the lobby waiting for me. Jayson walks toward me and I hug him.
“What happened to her, Tommy?”
“Before you go in there . . . it’s not good. She was raped and beaten.”
“Damien . . .”
“Yeah.” We walk to her room, and I’m scared to see her. We get to the door, and Jayson lets me go in alone. Oh my God, Nikki is swollen up so much that I don’t even recognize her. Her cheeks are so puffy, and all kinds of tubes are running into her. She’s still unconscious.
I take her hand and start to cry. My God, how could he do this to her? I knew she was playing a dangerous game with him. I’m gonna kill him. I swear by everything I hold dear, I’m going to kill that sick son of a bitch for doing this to her. This is worse than what happened to me as a kid. Jayson told me Horse also raped her. That fat fucker is gonna wish he never even looked in her direction.
“Nikki, you’re going to be okay, girl. I’m so sorry . . . I should have been here for you. You just need to rest and get better. You hear me? I promise you that I’m going to make sure Damien and Horse pay for this.”
The tears just flow down my face, and I can’t help but think that this could have easily been me. Damien’s a sick dog for doing this, and he’s got to be put down. I don’t care what I have to do to get him.
I walk outta her room and see Jayson waiting for me. He hugs me, and I break down in his arms and cry.
“I’m sorry this happened,” Jayson says.
“Don’t be. Just make sure you get his ass for this.”
“I will.”
Quan is standing to the side.
“I’m going to go see what’s going on. You’re gonna stay here?” Jayson asks.
“Yeah.”
“Quan, can you stay here with her and make sure she’s all right?”
“Sure, no problem,” Quan replies. For some reason, Quan is different from the others, and I trust him.
“Be careful,” I say to Jayson.
“I will, baby. She’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” I give Jayson a kiss before he goes.
JAYSON
I leave Janelle at the hospital with Quan. There’s no way she’s going to leave Nikki’s side tonight. I get a call from Lt. McNiven. They found Corey’s body in a car on the side of the highway on 285. He also told me that five of Dre’s homeboys were taken to the morgue this morning. The shit had hit the fan. Dre’s going to come at Damien with everything he’s got. This is the kind of shit we don’t need to have happen before the deal. Obviously King is thinking the same thing when he calls me.
“What the fuck happened, Tommy?” King says to me over the phone.
“Damien tried to hit Dre and shit went ugly.”
“What the fuck was he thinking? I’ve been blowing up this nigga’s cell for the past three hours and he hasn’t called me back!” King yells.
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me he was going to do this.”
“I told him no fuckups and he goes and pulls this!”
“I’ll try and catch up with him,” I tell him.
“No, come over here. We gotta figure out how much damage this nigga’s done,” King says.
“All right. I’ll be there.”
I drive to King’s spot in Buckhead, and I get the feeling shit is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better. The one thing that keeps on playing in my head is what Damien said to me: Things are going to change, and you gonna have to pick a side. What’s that nigga up to? This nigga Damien is ill enough to do anything—would he turn on King? I gotta get Vanessa outta there before shit gets really fucked up.
I get to King’s place and go inside. I see him pacing back and forth, smoking a blunt.
“Tommy, we need to talk.”
“Okay.”
He gives me some dap. “What’s wrong with this nigga?”
“I don’t know. He found out his girl Nikki was messing with Dre, and he flipped out and ran a gang-rape on her.”
“You mean he flipped out like this over some bitch? You know, I thought Damien was smart enough to handle shit on his own. That’s why I let him run shit down here,” King says to me as he takes another puff of his blunt.
“I don’t think you made a mistake. I just think this Dre cat got under his skin,” I tell him.
; “You a good dude, Tommy, but Dame ain’t ready for what’s about to go down. This nigga ain’t thinking straight. You wouldn’t let no bitch make you fuck up like this,” King says.
If only you knew, nigga.
“Naw, I wouldn’t.”
“Look, Tommy, this deal that’s about to go down is gonna put us on a whole new level. I can’t have Dame doing shit like this.”
“What are you saying?”
“What I’m saying, Tommy, is that I’ve been checking you out for the past few months and you’re the type of nigga I need by my side to help me run this shit,” King says.
“What about Dame?” I ask.
“Dame is my nigga, and I’ll always have love for him, but this is business. Everybody gotta play they part.” King’s phone rings.
“Yo, pour yourself up a drink, my nigga. I gotta take this outside.”
“A’ight.”
Ain’t this some shit? He trusts me. King is ready to replace Damien with me. It would be a smart move, too, if I wasn’t cop. This is exactly the position I’ve been trying to put myself in for the past six months. So why do I still got this rotten feeling in my gut? If Damien meant what he said to me, then things are not going to go as smoothly as King thinks.
I take a drink of brandy and Vanessa walks in the room, looking more stunning than I remembered.
“Jayson, something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Vanessa asks me.
“Why do you say that?”
“King, he’s been pissed off about what Damien did last night.”
“Yeah, Damien’s out of control. He raped and beat Nikki to a pulp.”
“Oh my God, is she all right?”
“She still hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“I can’t wait for this to be over. I can’t wait for us to be together,” Vanessa says as she caresses my arm.
“Vanessa, I’m going to protect you and make sure you’re okay, but after this is over, we can’t be together.”
The Pink Palace Page 14