Too Salty: Ain't a Damn Thang Changed (Part 6)

by Williams, Aleta

  “Me and my wife ran out of gas. Your house is the only one with lights, so we came here. Can I use our phone or can you take us to a gas station?”

  “Fuck no.” Johnathan went to shut the door, but Calvin barged his way in, pulling his gun out in the process. Pam rushed in behind him. She was a nervous wreck. She didn’t know why in the hell he was pulling such act with her there.

  “I want the cash you taking to the drop off.” He had his gun trained on Johnathan.

  “Do you know who I am?” Johnathan was afraid. If Calvin didn’t have that gun, he would have went toe to toe with him. Since he was nine until he finished college, he wrestled and was considered one of the best. Not only that, he had pull in the hood with big time dope dealers and that pussy nigga came to his house sweating him.

  “I know exactly who the fuck you are. The punk ass mayor’s son.”

  “Alright, nigga…“ Johnathan went to say, and Calvin popped him in the mouth.

  The Mexican’s lips got too loose. Out of reflex, Johnathan hit Calvin back and Calvin popped his ass in the chest. Pam screamed as she watched Johnathan hold his chest. He reached for Calvin and was able to grab his shirt. Calvin tried to remove his hand from his shirt, but the grip was too tight. Johnathan put up a fight, but, eventually, the bullet did its job and killed him. Pam still stared at Johnathan’s lifeless body the entire time Calvin searched the house for the deposit bag and plenty of valuables.

  “Let’s go,” he told Pam.

  He had to practically drag her out the house. It was as if she was stuck and couldn’t move. Pam never wanted to think of that day again and Calvin promised that he would never put her in the mix like that as long as he lived. The news talked about it for weeks and the good thing for them was there were no leads. What they didn’t know was Detective F had been watching the mayor’s son himself. He caught him a few times dealing with some big time drug dealer in the projects that he wanted to bring him down. He wouldn’t dare bring it to his boss’ attention, they would have his badge. The mayor was very close with the chief of police and they weren’t about to let him go down. He was glad the slick bastard was dead. But, he was still determined to get recognition from the sheriff’s department. That day Calvin and Pam left Johnathan’s house, Detective F saw them. It wasn’t until two days later when John’s fiancée found him dead that he figured the two were up to something. He watched them for a while, followed them to different pawnshops where he must’ve hocked stuff. But, it wasn’t until he found out about the Rolex he sold to an informer that he was for sure that Calvin did it. Calvin ended up going to jail, but for three years he still watched Pam. He wanted to crack the case bad and before the mayor got out office. It never happened that way. He was dead, but Pam was sure that the cops were looking for her. She never knew that she was being held by him only and it wasn’t an order by his superior. They knew nothing about it.

  “Ok, Pam, we’re here,” said Mrs. Roberts when they pulled up to the address she had given them. Pam’s heart fluttered. She was scared, but excited at the same time. Before she got out the car, she was crying. She was finally about to see her baby girl. Pam opened the door and ran up to the house. The Roberts got out and followed her. She knocked on the door several times and rung the bell, but no one answered. Mrs. Brown was leaving out of the house when she saw the three of them at Jazz’s house. From looking at the older couple, she knew they weren’t there on any mess.

  “Excuse me, is there something I can help you with?” She walked toward the rose bush that separated the driveways.

  Pam heard her voice and looked. “Mrs. Brown,” she was still crying, “I am looking for Jazz.”

  “They are out of town.” Mrs. Brown wondered how the lady knew her and what was she crying for, but she had been dealing with enough drama. “Who should I say came by?” Pam took off her glasses. She ran over to the rose bush and snatched off her hat.

  “It’s me, Pam. It’s me.”

  “Ohhhhhh, my Lord! It can’t be.” Mrs. Brown’s mouth fell agape.

  “I need to find Jazz. I have to see her before I go back.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mrs. Brown asked. Pam ran out of the yard and into Mrs. Brown. She hugged her tightly before asking could she and the Roberts come in and talk.

  The Party

  Pam was nervous as she, the Roberts, and Mrs. Brown pulled up to the Walt Disney Center. She sure wished Mrs. Brown could have gotten Jazz or Ken on the phone so she didn’t have to go there and possibly run into Stacy and Gary. Mrs. Brown told her they were getting married the following day and it broke her heart. She wouldn’t admit it. In fact, she didn’t even comment on it. She claimed her focus was solely on reuniting with her daughter, but her eyes told everyone in the room that she was heartbroken.

  “Can you try reaching her again?” Pam asked when they pulled into the parking structure. Mrs. Brown pulled out her cell and dialed the number.

  “I got their voicemail,” she explained. “I can go in and get her if you like.”

  “Please.” Pam and the Roberts got out the car to stretch their legs. While Mrs. Brown went to get Jazz, the Roberts assured Pam that she would be alright. They even did a prayer together.

  Mrs. Brown searched around the immaculate ballroom until she found Jazz. She was standing by the ice sculpture of Stacy and Gary sharing a kiss. The sculpture was so pretty, she almost lost focus admiring it. She rushed over to where they were. “I need you two to follow me outside,” she said when she was up on them.

  “Is everything alright?” Ken asked.

  Mrs. Brown hands started to shake. She was nervous. “I’m just fine. I want to show you something. Please.” Ken looked at a beautiful Jazz and she looked at him. Ken prayed it wasn’t any drama. It was the night before G and Stacy made it official, and the night he would propose to Jazz.

  “Come on.” Jazz rolled toward the door. Ken walked behind her and pushed her chair. Mrs. Brown hurried to the front of them so she could lead the way.

  “Ayeeeeeeeee….. Congrats….” the crowd chanted as Stacy and G walked in. They stopped in the center of the floor and bowed at their guests. Ken and Jazz stopped as well. Mrs. Brown didn’t know they stopped until she was at the door staring at a mask man and his goons, and they all had guns. She covered her mouth...

  “Ahhh!” she screamed when the masked man pushed her to the floor.

  “Boc, boc. The mask man ducked. Everyone screamed and ducked. Ken pushed Jazz to the floor and got on top of her. From the elevator, Big Man heard the shots, and he and Sandra wasted no time pulling out their guns. The waited impatiently for the elevator to stop.

  “Everybody down now,” ordered one of the goons. “We came for one muthafucka,” he continued as he looked around while the other goons walked around making sure no one was trying any funny stuff.

  G was happy he stayed strapped from the day he found out Calvin ran up in Ken’s spot. If he hadn’t… He pulled his gun from his waist. Ken was pulling his, but was spotted by a goon and was hit with the gun. He became slightly dizzy. Jazz screamed, which alerted the mask man. He knew she was there, but didn’t know where. G debated if he wanted to shoot or not. There were so many innocent people in there that could be hurt, but his decision was made for him when Big Man and Stacy came in shooting out anyone they thought would bring the noise. The hall became World War 1 and so many bullets flied.

  Mrs. Brown managed to escape, along with a few other people. It made it easier for the targets to be seen. Ken couldn’t see his face, but he knew that it was Calvin that was in the disguise and he planned on being the one to kill that nigga. He didn’t want to leave a whimpering Jazz and felt bad that she had to experience such thing yet again, but he was about to make it right or die trying.

  When Mrs. Brown went outside running and screaming, Pam didn’t bother to ask questions. She knew there was something wrong with her baby. She took off without hearing a word Mrs. Brown had to say. She could hear the shots. Her heart
thumped, but and she picked up her pace. She was saving her baby.

  Pow, pow, pow. G let off three shots toward Calvin, the masked man, but missed. Calvin ran pass the ice sculpture and G had shot it up, and emptying his clip in the process. Calvin ran pass Ken when Ken grabbed him by the leg, causing him to fall. He jumped on top of Calvin, dropping his gun in the process. He punched Calvin. Calvin tried raising his arm to shoot Ken off of him, but Ken had grabbed his hand. Calvin used his right hand to sock Ken in the head. By that time G had made it over to where they were and helped Ken beat the brakes off Calvin.

  Stacy ran over to Jazz and grabbed her. They held each other while they watched the mask man get beat. Calvin had given up on the fight. He couldn’t hang, the blows they gave him was too much and his body went limb. Ken snatched the mask on off his face.

  “Bitch nigga,” he hit him again and Calvin smirked.

  Jazz watched as the mask was snatched from his face and her mouth flew open. She couldn’t believe her father was still trying to destroy others. Stacy looked at the gun that was in front of her on the floor.

  “Fuck ya’ll bitches.” Calvin coughed, showing his bloody teeth. Ken and G stood up.

  “Freeze, put your hands up!” The police ran in like a SWAT team. Everyone put their hands up.

  Stacy continued to stare at the gun on the floor. She thought about what Calvin did to her and how evil he was. He didn’t deserve to live. As the police began to cuff Ken and Gary, one officers stood next to Calvin and requested a paramedic to come. Calvin watched as the cops escorted Ken and G away. Quickly, he raised up and grabbed the officer’s gun. Stacy went to grab the gun off the floor, but was punched out the way.

  “I hate you!” Pow, pow, pow. Jazz let off three shots into Calvin, hitting his midsection and one on the chest. Calvin held his chest as he looked at his daughter. She shot again, and then dropped the gun.

  The cops were distracted by the shooting, which gave Pam as chance to make it into the hall. “That’s my daughter. Let her go. That’s my daughter.” Jazz was getting handcuffed. Pam ran into the hall, but was tackled down by another officer. She lay on her stomach as she kicked screamed Jazz’s name.

  “Mommmmyyy!” Jazz screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to break free.

  Ken went crazy trying to get to Jazz, but for some reason he stopped...

  Noticing what Ken stared at, Gary’s eyes damn near popped from his head.

  Stacy sat there in shock. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Pam was alive!

  Epilogue

  The shootout at the Walt Disney Center left four shot; Big Man in the stomach and Sandra in the arm. The other two were hit in the leg and in spite of it all, everyone was fine. However, Calvin and one of his goons were dead. Jazz, Ken, and G were arrested but Pam was able to get them off.

  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

  When her loved ones were hauled off to the police station, Pam left Stacy and Mrs. Brown behind. She had Roberts take her up to South East Division, the office Detective F worked out of so she could get her daughter released. Upon Mr. Roberts’ arrival at the station, Pam didn’t even bother to allow the car to come to a complete stop before jumping out and running into the station.

  "I need to speak to your captain right away." Pam requested. The officer had his back turned; he was talking to another lady officer about having lunch when he heard her voice. He turned around and there was a distraught Pam. He hadn't seen her since she beat him in the head and left him for dead. He wondered how he would act once he saw her. Would he tell on her or allow her to snitch on herself? As much as he wanted to say to hell with her his heart wouldn't let him. That lady lost years of her life because of a dirty cop and he wouldn't be the cause of her losing any more time with her daughter; he couldn't live with that on his conscious.

  "Pam, let me talk to you in private." He looked at the other officer. "Take over for me."

  "No, I don't wanna talk. I'm sorry for what I did. I need the captain, please," Pam’ voice got louder.

  “I need to talk to you first.”

  “I said I need to talk to the captain.” She yelled. Michael's hopped over the counter. He shocked his coworker and startled Pam and Roberts who had just walked in. He took Pam by the arm and pulled her near the entrance of where the homicide detectives worked. "Shut your mouth. Officer F was a dirty cop."

  "Ok but I need to save Jazz, please. I need the captain. I take full responsibility for my and Calvin’ actions but free my daughter." She began to cry, "Where is the captain?"

  "Pam don't tell the captain shit. They will make you out to be the bad guy. I found out why F had you. It was for his own reasons. My department never knew you were in custody, he was using you."

  "What, using me?" Michaels looked around to make sure that no one heard her, he was beginning to get annoyed by her ignorance.

  "Shut the hell up and leave. I'm off in two hours meet me at the boxing gym down the street. Just wait in there." He looked at Mr. Roberts, "get her out of here please." Mr. Roberts took her by the arm.

  "No, tell me what happened. What the hell do you mean?" Pam snatched away from Mr. Roberts.

  "Pam listen to this man, let's go." Mr. Roberts’ voice was low and stern. He paid attention to everything that was being said and it seemed to have been deep. The man had to be trying to help her. A hesitant Pam left with the Roberts trailing right behind her.

  Two hours later, Michael's showed up. He told her how F went after her just to be a hero by solving the case. He told Pam to contact an attorney and have him call the mayor.

  ****

  It had been almost twenty four hours since Jazz, Ken, and G were in custody and thanks to Michaels’ informing Pam of the real and Mr. Roberts contacting the people he knew, they were released quietly and the charges they could have filed against Pam were swept under the rug.

  Pam waited with the Roberts impatiently for Jazz to walk out of the Rampart police station. She was overwhelmed with joy; she finally had her life back. She was free of Calvin and his scandalous ways. Secretly she did wonder if she could find another man like Gary, one who accepted all of her flaws-AIDS being the biggest one, but she tried not to allow the seed of doubt to grow any bigger. The Roberts said that God would send her another good man and she wanted to believe that.

  “OH MY GOD, MY BABY.” Pam covered her mouth when she saw one of the officers rolling Jazz out of the double doors. Jazz broke down crying. She wasn’t able to make a call because the phones were broken, no one told her anything about her mom. For some reason she thought she was dreaming. Although she saw her mother at the Disney Center. They screamed one another’s names but she was still scared to believe it was real. She needed to touch her mother’s flesh. Hold her and smell her.

  “Momma,“ Jazz choked on her words as Pam came running toward her. Jazz stood from the chair; she lightly stumbled forward. She held out her arms and slowly walked her mother’s way. The tears were coming so quickly she could barely see, but she felt when Pam pulled her in her embrace. She inhaled her lovely scent. Both ladies cried hysterically, they didn’t say a word. They just held each other closely. “Mommy I missed you. I thought you were dead.” She managed to say through tears.

  “No Baby I’m here. I’m here.” The ladies held each other for about five more minutes crying.

  “We thought you were dead.” Pam heard him say. She slowly lifted her head. Still holding her baby girl in her arms, she looked at Gary. He stared at her with watery eyes. Shaking his head in disbelief he repeated, “I thought you were dead?”

  Ken and Stacy walked up along with Mrs. Brown and the Roberts. Mrs. Brown had called up to the jail and was told they were being processed out so she hurried to pick them up.

  “I’m here.” She looked back at Jazz. “I missed you so much.” She began to cry again while Gary stood there staring.

  “Momma what happened?” Jazz continued boohooing. She couldn’t control her tears. Ken Hurried over to wher
e she was and placed his hand on her back.

  “Hi, Pam.” He smiled and thought of his own mom and how he wished she was there. He fought hard to hold back the tears but he managed to keep them from falling. Stacy stood back and watched from afar; she had mixed emotions. She was happy that Jazz was happy but now it all made sense. She was the lady from the hospital. She was the nun.

  “Let’s go to the house.” Mrs. Brown suggested. It took a few minute before everyone followed her orders but they did end up back at Mrs. Brown’s house.

  It was very awkward to sit and listen as Pam told the story of what happened. So many questions were answered. The reason behind the closed casket. It had been an initial request of Pam years ago but when the funeral home suggested it saying that because she had sat for so long during the cop’s investigation she didn’t look like the lady on the picture. So when Gary and Mrs. Brown saw her after she was dressed they agreed. The person they had in the casket looked horrible, however they had no idea it wasn’t Pam so closed casket it was.

  Listening to more stories about how dirty her father was, it further helped her with not giving a fuck about killing her daddy. He was a dog; he deserved to be six feet under. Gary and Stacy were in awe as well and equally glad that the bastered was dead.

  In conclusion….

  Ken did propose to Jazz and of course she accepted. The two would be married before the baby was born. In the meantime, Jazz, Ken, and Pam were vacationing in Cancun.

  Stacy moved in with her aunt- Magic’ Mom. It was awkward for Stacy to be around her best friend and the man that they both loved.

  Gary tried talking to Pam about him and Stacy but she refused; she wanted to spend time with her daughter and future son in law that was it. Stacy, she was a little distant and he knew why but he didn’t press the issue because he didn’t know what to do or say. After speaking with his great uncle, a well-respected pastor, he decided to go on a six month retreat in the mountains to get back in tune with God. He did confirm with Stacy to make sure it was ok, he didn’t want to go against his word and leave her again. Stacy thought it was a great idea and it gave her time to figure some things out.