A Hustler's Promise: Some Promises Won't Be Broken

by Jackie Chanel

  “I’m mad at myself. I should have done something about Ramel’s crazy ass long before that shit went down with you and Mario. But you don’t have to worry about that or anything else. I’ll always take care of you.”

  Jaicyn smiled. “Always? You’re talking like we’re going to be together forever.”

  “We are,” Rayshawn said matter-of-factly. He reached in his back pocket and pulled out the tiny trinket that he’d snuck out of the house earlier that day.

  The simple gold ring had belonged to Shani Moore. It wasn’t her wedding band and Rayshawn had no idea where she’d gotten it. It must have been special because he found it hidden in a secret compartment of her jewelry box after she was killed. Rayshawn had taken the small jewelry box from the apartment right before they moved in with Ike and Yvette. It was special to him because it was special to his mother. Now he wanted Jaicyn to have it.

  “This is for you,” he said, handing her the ring.

  “Oh Rayshawn,” Jaicyn giggled. “What’s this for?”

  “I want you to have it so you’ll know that I am serious about you and one day we are going to take your sisters and get the hell out of Washington Heights. Then we’ll get married and have our own babies.”

  Jaicyn was shocked and somewhat dumbfounded. Up until that very moment she thought she was the only one in the relationship who thought about their future. From the look on Rayshawn’s face, he’d given a lot of thought about their future together and Jaicyn was proud to slide the gold band onto her finger.

  “People are going to think that we’re engaged. What am I supposed to tell them?”

  Rayshawn looked at Jaicyn’s hand. “Tell them that we are. We’re going to get married eventually.”

  “Aww Rayshawn, is this a promise ring?”

  Rayshawn laughed. “I guess so. But one day I’ll replace it with a real ring. Bigger than Kobe’s wife’s.”

  Jaicyn couldn’t wait for that day to come but for now she was content with the gold ring she was wearing. Nothing or no one would or could come between her and Rayshawn. He promised to marry her and Rayshawn didn’t break his promises. Neither would she.

  Chapter 13

  Jaicyn looked around the small room in the community center and frowned. She looked down at her watch. The meeting was supposed to have started already but there were still women staggering in, filling small Styrofoam cups with stale coffee, and filling their bellies with day old donuts.

  After three meetings of her Rape Survivors support group, Jaicyn had enough. She didn’t want to talk about what happened to her. She never shared. Talking about it didn’t help the situation. Talking about it didn’t change the fact that she’d been raped. The only thing that did help the situation was knowing that Mario was dead and Ramel was locked up.

  But here she was, sitting in another meeting waiting for someone else to share so everyone else could cry and offer hugs and support. Jaicyn didn’t want or need that kind of attention. She only came because the counselor at the hospital recommended it and Miss Deavers insisted on it.

  “Jaicyn, you haven’t said anything since you started coming here,” Tracy, the lead counselor said to her quietly. “Are you going to share with us today?”

  “No.” she stated simply.

  “Jaicyn, talking about what happened will help you deal with this,” Tracy urged.

  “I don’t have anything to say,” Jaicyn snapped. “Matter of fact, this is a waste of time. My sisters are with the babysitter and I need to go get them. I’m out of here.”

  “Jaicyn,” Tracy called. “Don’t leave!”

  But her plea fell on deaf ears. Jaicyn was already out of the room.

  As soon as she stepped out of the community center, a burden was lifted off of Jaicyn’s shoulders. Reliving the moment in the house was not high on her list of priorities. Angelina had disappeared three weeks ago. If Rayshawn hadn’t gotten kicked out of his grandparents’ house for beating up his uncle and was now living with Jaicyn, she and her sisters would be out on the street. She hadn’t returned back to work at Sandy’s since the incident. She hadn’t even completely recovered from her injuries yet. Still, there had to be something that she could do to alleviate some of the financial burden off of Rayshawn.

  At least it was summer and she had a few months to get things running smoothly again. When school started, Jaicyn was determined to return to Lincoln for her junior year. Rayshawn, Autumn, and Dayshawn were all on the path to graduate. Because Miss Deavers was tutoring her, Jaicyn could graduate on time too, if she went back to school. That’s all she wanted. She didn’t want to be the only one of her friends who didn’t have a goals or a path in life. She wanted to be more than just a dope boy’s girlfriend. She needed to have a life of her own, outside of her sisters and her boyfriend.

  Instead of heading straight to Autumn’s to get Rickie and Bobbie, Jaicyn went home first. It would be nice to have a moment to herself before she had to cook and make sure her sisters were taken care of. She settled on the sofa and turned on BET.

  A knock on the door interrupted her hip-hop infused serenity.

  “Who is it?” Jaicyn called before she opened the door.

  “DFCS,” was the answer. Jaicyn’s hand lingered over the doorknob in terror.

  The Department of Family and Child Services was notorious for snatching kids out of their homes and breaking up families. Jaicyn prayed every night that no one from that organization would ever darken her doorstep. But here they were, standing at her door and Jaicyn’s world came crashing down.

  The social worker, an innocent looking white woman, spoke first while two Washington Heights police officers, a black woman and a white man, stood stoically on either side of her.

  “My name is Kim Hill, from the Department of Family and Child Services. May I come in?”

  Jaicyn knew better than to let the lady in the house, no matter how sweet she looked. She hadn’t had the chance to clean up the mess Rayshawn made earlier. There was drug paraphernalia all over the kitchen!

  “Umm,” Jaicyn stammered, “I’m on my way out. But I’ll tell my mother that you came by. Do you have a card or something?”

  “Jaicyn,” the social worker said, “we know your mom isn’t here. She’s been in the county jail for a week.”

  Jaicyn’s heart fell to the floor. There was no escaping now.

  “Jaicyn, I’m only here to help you and your sisters. You’re not old enough to carry the responsibility of raising a six and seven year old.”

  “My sisters are five and six and I’ve been doing a good enough job,” Jaicyn said, irritated that this woman, who knew nothing about her, assumed that she needed or wanted her help.

  “That may be the case,” Kim Hill agreed, “but the fact of the matter remains that for the last month you and your sisters have been living here with a suspected drug dealer.”

  Jaicyn looked down at the floor. She couldn’t argue with the facts. She didn’t know what to do or say. She wanted to run in the apartment and lock the door but with the two cops standing there running would be dumb.

  “Miss Jones,” the female officer decided to speak up. “My name is Officer Jeffries and I know you don’t want to, but you are going to have to let us in the apartment. As part of DFCS’ investigation we have to have a look around.”

  “Why do you need to look around my house” Jaicyn asked.

  “We have to confirm what’s been reported.”

  Jaicyn felt hopeless. She couldn’t talk or fight her way out of this situation. The minute the cops came through the door and took a look at the kitchen that she was going to jail. Since Angelina was already locked up, Rickie and Bobbie would be placed in an emergency foster home.

  “Who reported us?” Jaicyn demanded to know, doing her best to stall the inevitable.

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” Ms. Hill answered.

  For a moment Jaicyn considered telling them to go to hell and having them handle their business right there on the stoop
. She’d rather go to jail for getting into an altercation with the social worker than to face drug charges.

  “Jaicyn, you can stall all you want, but we’re coming in. You might as well just step aside and let us do what we came to do,” the other officer said.

  Giving in, Jaicyn opened the door. She walked into the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for the ball to drop. Kim Hill sat down in the chair across from Jaicyn.

  “I’m going to ask you some questions while Officer Morgan and Office Jeffries look around, okay?”

  “I really don’t think I should be answering any questions without an adult present,” Jaicyn said defiantly. She knew how the system worked. She knew a lot of people who had dealt with DFCS.

  Miss Hill sighed. This was the part of her job that she hated. Jaicyn seemed like a bright girl and it seemed that she was handling life well for a child whose parents had abandoned her. The decision wasn’t hers to make. When Ike and Yvette Moore reported that their grandson was living in an apartment with another teenager, it was her job to investigate.

  “Jaicyn, where’s your father? Do you know him?”

  None of your damn business, Jaicyn wanted to yell. Instead she refused to answer. She focused on trying to figure out what the cops were doing upstairs in her room. The social worker kept asking questions about her father and his whereabouts until Jaicyn lost her cool.

  “Look, I’m not answering your questions until you tell me who reported us and what’s going to happen to me and my sisters!”

  “Well, that depends, Jaicyn,” Kim Hill said. “We’ll reach out to your father and see if he can take you, if we can find him. If not, then the younger girls will be placed in an emergency foster home and because of your age, you’ll go to a group home.

  “You’re going to split us up!” Jaicyn yelled. “No, that can’t happen.”

  Kim frowned. “I understand your concern, Jaicyn, I really do. Believe me, I don’t want to do this to you-”

  “So don’t,” Jaicyn interrupted. “Get out of here and leave us alone.”

  Jaicyn heard laughing as the two officers came down the steps and turned around angrily.

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  Both cops ignored her. Instead the Officer Jeffries motioned for Kim to approach her. While they spoke in hushed tones, Jaicyn fumed on the couch and stared at the clock. Autumn would be bringing the girls home any minute.

  “Jaicyn,” Kim said, “There seems to be a bigger problem here.”

  “You don’t say,” Jaicyn said sarcastically. “What now?”

  “Look little girl,” Officer Morgan snapped. “You’re in a world of trouble so if I were you I’d keep your smart ass comments to yourself. Just answer our questions and do what we say.”

  Jaicyn wasn’t going to back down. They had no right being in her house in the first place, invading her privacy. She didn’t plan on answering any of their questions either…until Officer Morgan sat an eightball of cocaine, two dime bags of weed, and Rayshawn’s .380 on the table. Jaicyn closed her eyes and screamed silently. Could it get any worse?

  “So, Jaicyn,” Officer Jeffries spoke after a minute of total silence, “you want to explain this?”

  “Not really,” Jaicyn answered, getting beyond frustrated. Her life was over. All she could think about were her little sisters. She’d tried so hard to compensate for their sorry ass mother and make sure they had a decent life but she’d failed.

  “Jaicyn,” Officer Jeffries said, “are these yours?”

  Jaicyn didn’t say a word. The drugs and the gun weren’t hers. They were Rayshawn’s.

  “Jaicyn,” Kim advised, “you have to help us help you. Do you realize that you could go to jail? Is that what you want?”

  “All you have to say is that they belong to Rayshawn,” Officer Morgan urged. “We know all about him. Just admit that this stuff is his and we won’t arrest you. Don’t make things harder for you or your boyfriend.”

  The idea of snitching on Rayshawn was out of the question. Cops lie all the time. Even if she did admit to the drugs belonging to Rayshawn, Jaicyn knew that Officer Morgan wouldn’t let her go. No matter what she said, she was going to jail. There was nothing she could do about it now.

  Besides, Jaicyn would never rat out anyone in King’s crew. She was a drug dealer’s girlfriend. It was all part of the game. She was still a minor. Two years in a juvenile detention center would be the worst she’d get. Rayshawn couldn’t go to jail.

  He had a plan for them and Jaicyn was serious about helping him see that plan through. Rayshawn was everything to her. Rayshawn had killed a man for her. No matter what people thought and said about her, Jaicyn had already committed to taking the charge for Rayshawn the minute Officer Morgan sat the eightball on the table.

  Jaicyn sat, fingering the gold band on her finger when Rickie and Bobbie came bursting through the door.

  “Jay-Jay," Rickie called, “why didn't you get us from Autumn’s? ”

  The sassy six year old stopped talking when she noticed the two police officers. She and Bobbie eased over to Jaicyn and climbed in her lap.

  “Jay-Jay,” Rickie whispered, “why are the police here?”

  Kim Hill remained silent, watching the inner struggle the teenager was going through. She hated that she'd just come into this child's home and ruined her life. If Jaicyn refused to give up her boyfriend, she was going to jail and Kim would have to take the two younger girls into custody.

  “We don't have time for this shit,” Officer Morgan snarled. “Who does this shit belong to?”

  Jaicyn squeezed her sisters tight and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks. Then she looked at the angry white cop.

  “It's mine.”

  “Bullshit,” Officer Morgan spat. “You know this is Rayshawn's.”

  “I don't know any Rayshawn,” Jaicyn answered with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.

  “Who’d you get it from then?”

  “A person, on the street,” Jaicyn answered nonchalantly. “I bought it so I could sell it We needed the money.”

  She turned to her sisters. “Listen to me,” she said, “you’re going to go with that lady over there. So go upstairs and pack some clothes and a few toys. I’ll come pick you up later.”

  The girls suspected something was terribly wrong but they knew enough to listen to their sister. They slid off of her lap and ran upstairs, pausing long enough at the bottom of the stars to see tears start to slide down Jaicyn’s face. The social worker followed them upstairs to help them pack. Jaicyn stood up in front the two cops and put her hands out, waiting to be handcuffed.

  “Can you at least do this while they’re upstairs?”

  Officer Morgan was pissed off by Jaicyn’s unwillingness to cooperate. He saw girls like her every day, protecting their scum of the earth boyfriends and he was sick of it. He had no intention of making things easier for her. It was people like her that made him hate being a cop.

  Officer Jeffries quickly put the handcuffs on Jaicyn. She was sympathetic to Jaicyn’s situation because she’d been through something similar herself. She’d grown up in Washington Heights, just a few blocks away from Jaicyn’s place. She felt bad for Jaicyn as she watched her wipe her tears on the shoulder of her white t-shirt. She was a tough kid and wouldn’t want the neighborhood seeing her crying over what she thought was the right thing to do.

  The cops led Jaicyn outside where there was a small crowd gathered near her stoop. The police car parked outside of the apartment building had indicated to the neighborhood that something was wrong and they all wanted to know what. Jaicyn held her head high and walked outside with a smirk that quickly faded when she got in the back of the police car and no one could see her face.

  Officer Jeffries had a feeling that once Jaicyn got downtown and processed, she’d change her mind about Rayshawn. The reality of jail, whether it was city, county, or juvenile, had a way of breaking many women who were willing to take a charge for thei
r man.

  Jaicyn didn’t utter a sound or shed another tear as she was booked and processed into the juvenile holding facility. She didn’t even answer the basic questions like her name and age. Officers Jeffries and Morgan had a file on her an inch thick; let them answer the questions.

  The process took about thirty minutes and when it was all over, Jaicyn spoke for the first time when they put her in a cold windowless room for more questioning.

  “I need to use the phone and I want a lawyer, ASAP.”

  The detective assigned to question her knew two things right away. He wasn’t going to have the opportunity to ask Jaicyn any questions about King or Rayshawn and that Jaicyn was smarter than a lot of kids. He told the female officer to let Jaicyn use the phone and find her a court appointed attorney and child advocate. Then he went back to his office. The interview was over before it even began.

  Once Jaicyn picked up the phone she stared at the cop until she got the hint and moved out of earshot. Jaicyn dialed Autumn’s number and prayed that she was home and her mother didn’t answer. Gina would never accept a collect call from jail.

  Jaicyn could have called her grandmother or even her father but there would be no point in that. They couldn’t help her. She needed someone who could get in touch with Rayshawn and King quickly. Autumn would know exactly what to do. She may have been book smart but you don’t live in Washington Heights without acquiring a bit of street intelligence. When Autumn answered the phone, Jaicyn wanted to cheer.

  “Jay-Jay, what happened? People are saying you got arrested.”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  As quickly as she could and without saying Rayshawn’s name, Jaicyn told Autumn what had happened. When she finished, Autumn assured her best friend that she’d do whatever she had to do to get her out of there and find out about Rickie and Bobbie.

  An hour and a half after she’d hung up the phone and was sitting in a holding cell with four other teenage girls, Jaicyn heard her name being called. She walked over to the officer standing in front of the cell.