Country Boy

by Karrington, Blake

  Dina and Shea were so caught up in their grief they hadn’t noticed the freshly dug grave only two plots down from Bolo’s.

  They paid their respects and were getting ready to leave when they noticed the black hearse entering the double gated entrance of the cemetery. Only one car followed with its headlights on. They stood motionless as the hearse stopped almost directly in front of them. As they began walking towards their car the door on the single car opened. It was Tex’s mother. After a long stare she spoke, “I’m sorry about your brother young lady. He was a good boy.”

  Dina nodded her head, making one lonely tear fall from her eyes. Unsure what to say to the woman who had produced the killer of her brother, she thought her silence would be the best response. Shea, recognizing that both women were uncomfortable, grabbed Dina and motioned her off.

  Chapter 27

  Can’t Trust No One

  Officer Jacobs had eight years in as a deputy sheriff. He had went from being a behind the desk petty officer to second in charge, over the narcotics department. His partner and senior officer went by the name of Stokely. Jacobs was a good cop, receiving several awards and bonuses for his outstanding work in the community. He was mainly noted for bringing down some of the biggest drug operations in Rockingham and surrounding counties.

  Having access to the evidence room and anything else dealing with narcotics had one day gotten the best of him. No one would miss it, he kept saying to himself. Eventually Jacobs went from snorting less than a quarter gram of cocaine every two days to close to a quarter ounce a day. At first he would cover his tracks by going around the neighborhood to different known drug areas busting petty drug dealers, taking their money and all the drugs confiscated from them or whatever was thrown on the ground. Since crack had hit so hard in the 90’s Jacobs hardly ever ran into a drug bust involving powdered cocaine. He had to find another way to support his habit.

  The Block was known throughout the police department as the “Red Zone”. Its location had been circled on the board. Officer Jacobs had patrolled The Block several times while on duty. Whenever he saw one of The Crew members he would search them. On a few occasions he found weapons. In exchange for not going downtown he would take pay-offs. From there it went to giving information. Then hauling kilos. Unknown to him was the fact that his partner was also on The Crews payroll. That is until the department brought in the S-R-T (Special Response Team). They were brought in to clean up the heavy drug activity in the neighborhoods. After making several arrests they began hearing cases. During different trials, evidence either came up missing or had been tampered with. After an internal investigation Officer Stokely was approached by the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) about his partner.

  Seeing a chance to cover his own tracks he agreed to help them with a sting operation. Beginning with his partner. The next few weeks they gathered all the information they could on Jacobs. The final straw came when they planted three kilos of powdered cocaine in the evidence room with a built in transmitter. Within forty-eight hours it was taken. Using a tracking device they located the drugs at Jacobs’s residence. Guilty. .. Instead of being arrested he agreed to help gather enough evidence on the P.G. Crew for an indictment.

  Q hadn’t been involved in the drug game in almost two years now. But he still relied on his street instincts. Street instincts which had been telling him the last few weeks something wasn’t right. He had told the rest of The Crew to stay out of sight as much as possible and absolutely no drug transactions out in the open.

  Tee hadn’t spoken much with Q since the Bike Fest. Seeing Q enjoying himself with Van so much had dulled her spirits. She had left without telling anyone, including Elbony. Even though Q had wife Van up, Tee still felt like one day they would be together. Especially with the secret she was now keeping. Now sitting in her lobby area after closing, her thoughts of Q were interrupted by the black car sitting across the street. The same car she had seen for the past three days. “Why would someone be watching the shop,” she mumbled to herself. Robbery crossed her mind. Maybe they were waiting for her to leave. She quickly shook away that thought. If they were planning any type of stick-up they wouldn’t give themselves away like that. Grabbing her purse she removed her .38. Then she opened her cell and dialed June’s number, not wanting to confuse Q or herself anymore than she already had. Within minutes June was on the phone.

  “I’m on the way sis, don’t move.” When June pulled up Tee unlocked the entrance way door, stepping outside to meet him.

  “What’s going on sis?”

  “I don’t know,” she responded. “There was someone watching my shop from across the street,” she said pointing in the direction she had last seen the sedan.

  Before June could respond Q was pulling in the salon’s parking lot. Tee gave June a look as if asking him “why didn’t you tell me you called him.”

  June sensed it and spoke, “I... I forgot to tell you I called Q.”

  “Damn June if I had wanted him to know I would have called him myself.”

  “I’m sorry sis, but either way someone was going to be mad at me.”

  Q stepped out of the car with a concerned look on his face. He still had not spoken to Tee as June explained what was going on. Afterwards Q turned to Tee.

  “Are you okay Tee.”

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  Q’s voice was low and serious as he continued. “Was it a black car?”

  She nodded.

  “When was the first time you noticed the car there, Tee?”

  “Three days ago.”

  “Three days?” Q asked as if not believing what he just heard.

  “About three days ago Q,” Tee said with a heavy sigh.

  “Why didn’t you call me Tee?”

  “Why didn’t I... Because you were too damn busy, you always too busy for me. Damn Q just go home and take care of Van, that’s were you decided to be, just go.” she said, before walking back into the salon. Q didn’t follow her; he talked a few more minutes with June.

  Q spoke, “Homie, our connects downtown are either slipping, or they know what’s going on.”

  “Maybe their involved,” June said.

  “Yeah I was thinking the same thing. You have to stay out of the way homie. Your case is supposed to be dismissed this time up in court.”

  “Yeah, but why would someone be taking pictures of Tee’s salon?”

  “I don’t know fam, but I intend to find out.” After June left to inform the rest of The Crew, Q stepped in the salon with Tee. He found her in her office sitting on her recliner. For a long moment they stared at one another without speaking. Finally Q broke the ice. “Tee, listen to me ma. We have our differences; I’ll be the first to admit that. But whoever that was out there today could have been anybody. You know I love you ma, and I know I hurt you, but that’s no excuse for not calling. If those mothafuckas were stick-up boys you would be dead by now Tee.” She knew Q was heated. He hardly ever cursed during their personal conversations. “Promise me ma... Promise me right now that it won’t happen again.”

  She didn’t respond, she knew Q was right anything could have happened. Q grabbed Tee by her waist and pulled her close “What’s been going on with you lately?”

  “You haven’t been returning my calls or anything”

  Tee wanted to desperately tell him what had been on her mind. But she didn’t know how to tell him she was carrying his child. Since him and Van seemed to be so happy together. Tee didn’t know if he would want her to keep the child or do the unthinkable. So she was buying time until she could figure a way to drop the news on him.

  “It’s nothing Q, nothing”

  As he sat staring at her he knew that he still had love for Tee. Damn why couldn’t he have both he thought to himself. Before leaving the salon Q promised that he would stop by her condo later.

  ***

  Tim was flipping through the channels when Terri walked through the door. “What up ma,” he said.


  “Hi Baby,” Terri responds.

  “Where’s lil’ man?”

  “He’s asleep ma.”

  Terri walked over to the couch beside him, sitting down kicking her shoes off. “My feet are killing me,” she said.

  “Let me take care of them for you Boo.” Tim grabbed both feet giving her a long gentle massage. Before long her shirt was opening with Tim trying to draw milk from each breast. After carrying her to the bedroom he made love to Terri until their bodies collapsed. Now they laid in each other’s arms enjoying one another’s company. Tim spoke, “You know Mrs. Johnson called again today.”

  “Yeah, I figured she would, she called me twice at the shop.”

  “What do you think we should do Baby? I know she misses her grandson, but we’ve been through so much lately, I’m still a little uncomfortable leaving Lil’ Ty with anybody.”

  “Mrs. Johnson is not just anybody Terri. I was shot the day we met her, but I still remember the concern she had for her grandbaby’s safety ma. That old lady was scared to death.”

  “I understand that Tim, but she could’ve warned us before we got there.”

  “No she couldn’t Terri. Mrs. Johnson did everything she could that day to save Lil’ Ty. Trust me ma, if she would have given us the slightest bit of warning ...” He paused a second then continued, “We would’ve found her and Lil’ Ty both dead.”

  Terri stared at the ceiling as Tim stroked her long silky hair. “I think she has suffered enough,” Terri said.

  Picking up the phone, Tim didn’t say anything but nodded his head showing his approval. Ring. .. Ring ... “Hello, Johnson’s residence.”

  “Hello Mrs. Johnson, this is Terri. Are you busy...?” Terri could hear Mrs. Johnson’s sobs seeping through the receiver.

  “Don’t worry Mrs. Johnson, Lil’ Ty is fine, but he misses his grandmother dearly.”

  Through tears of joy Mrs. Johnson spoke. ‘‘Thank you my child. Thank you... Thank you... Thank you.” Terri made plans to meet Lil’ Ty’s grandmother at the salon after work the next day. Hanging up the phone she felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her.

  “You’re a special person with a forgiving heart,” Tim told her. “Wifey material,” he mumbled to himself.

  “Did you say something?” she asked.

  “Nah ma, just reminding myself how lucky I am to have someone like you.”

  Terri blushed laying her head on Tim’s chest, giving her own thanks for having him. Closing her eyes she drifted off into a deep sleep.

  The next day Q received the phone call he’d been looking for. Hanging up the phone he taps Van on the shoulder. “Wake up ma.”

  After waking Van he explained what he just found out on the phone.

  “What about you Baby, you haven’t done any type of business in nearly two years.”

  “Yeah I know ma, but you can’t put anything past these people. If we can hire two of them to haul cocaine, then there is no limit to what they will do to protect their own asses.” Q could see the worry in Van’s eyes. “Don’t worry, anything they come wit they’re gonna have to prove it.” He continues, “It’s not me I’m really worried about. Everybody already know that I’m out of the game. But The Crew is my second family. We can only hope that the knowledge they learned was put to good use.’’

  Q’s thoughts were correct. Officer Jacobs couldn’t get the pictures he needed for a full fledged indictment. Jacobs had checked every property Q owned, all his vehicles, everything. Unable to find any flaws he began checking his associates, beginning with one Tashonda Davis. Jacobs went over her assets with a fine tooth comb. He himself was impressed with her CEO skills. Officer Jacobs didn’t want to pry too far into Q’s immediate family’s assets. He didn’t know how financially stable they were, but he knew Q never involved them in any type of illegal activity. If news of him running background checks on any of them was somehow leaked out, Jacobs knew his family was as good as dead. For weeks Officer Jacobs scoped out different locations The Crew members hung out at. Still nothing, no concrete evidence. Desperate now he began plotting against The Crew. He thought of ways to plant narcotics on each of them. It would be dangerous, but Jacobs was quickly running out of time.

  Club Mercedes

  The whole crew sat in the back office of The Club. Q had just finished giving them the low-down on their connects downtown. June spoke, “Yo’ Q, we basically left everything the way it was when you left. We never do business out in the open, and everything we buy, it’s legit.”

  “Good,” Q replied. “That’s probably the first thing they’ll check.”

  “What about the Club?” Q asked Big Kev and Poo.

  “I just got off the phone with our lawyer who did the contract,” Poo answers. “We’re good Q.”

  “Aiight homie.” Q reaches down and picked up his gym bag. Placing it on the table he unzipped it, then removed a package from inside. “Just a little insurance in case any of us should ever need it.’’ Dumping the contents on the table he revealed at least a hundred photos of Officer Jacobs and his senior officer and partner Stokely. There were several video and cassette tapes stacked neatly together.

  “Damn Q, how did you come up wit’ all this shit homie,” Fat Dave asked still not believing what he was looking at.

  Q answered while looking over the whole crew. “From the first day we conducted any type of business with these two dirty mothafuckas I got ‘em right here,” he said pointing at the stack of evidence. “One of the first things you learn in this hustle game is to cover yo’ own ass. These types of people will bring down everybody to keep from falling.”

  Big Kev spoke, “What do we do now Q?”

  “We don’t do nothing homie. We continue to act as if we know nothing. Keep the small time hustlers supplied as usual. If you hear from either of our connects get at me. Don’t call them or talk to them, they could be wired. We have enough evidence here to shake up the whole damn county. Oh yeah, one more thing,” Q said before standing to leave, “Let me get that heat up off all y’all.”

  “WHAT!” Everybody said at once.

  “Relax nigga’s,” he says digging deeper into his gym bag. One by one he pulled out each crew member’s weapon of choice. He continued. “Better to be safe than sorry. Now give me them dirty ass pistols.”

  Chapter 28

  Keep It On The Low

  The Crew continued to show their faces around The Block and hood. They made sure no business was conducted out in the open. If the police didn’t already have them, then they wouldn’t. Down at the police department the SRT knew they were in trouble if they didn’t act fast. The evidence they had gathered during their three month undercover sting operation was extremely weak. Nothing was hands on. Any half-ass lawyer would rip them apart in a court of law.

  Out of desperation they organized a sting operation called “Trick or Treat”. On November 1st the department conducted a county round-up. They began kicking in doors at 4:00 a.m., catching most of the hustlers off their square. Most of them either still had product on them or an asshole full of money. Between the Special Response Team, the local police, and the deputy sheriff’s department, by 5:00 a.m. they had netted seventy-eight arrest, with twenty-two warrants unserved. The local paper’s front page was full of mug shots. Half the pictures made most of them look like it wouldn’t be long before they started drawing social security.

  Closing the paper Q spoke. “Damn, they tried to pick up the whole fuckin’ county!”

  “Yeah Q, they did,” said Van. “I read it before you woke up this morning. Look like they still have a lot more warrants to serve from what the papers stating. Do you think the guys are going to be okay?”

  “Well ma, usually during a round-up, most of the time they will do buys using informants or come at you with a mothafucka wired up.” He continues, “If greed doesn’t get the best of a hustler, then usually he will slip through the cracks. I was in the game a long time, and it has never been any type of major drug b
ust without at least one or two ‘Big Fish’ getting caught up with the smaller ones trying not to miss a dollar. All we can do is hope our family wasn’t one of them.”

  “Did you call anybody love?”

  “Na ma, if something happens they will know exactly what to do.” Van pulled her nightgown over her head and straddled him. Q stared at his black queen now facing him sitting on his lap. Her aroma filled the room. Q bent down and gently sucked on her neck. Van leaned her head back making herself more available as he teased her body until her breathing became shallow. Sucking on her breast Q probed her opening with his fingers. Vans hips began grinding against his hand, as her moans traveled throughout the house. Q took his other hand and lifted her chin until they were facing each other again. Vans eyes were glazed all over as if she was on some type of medication. “I love you Boo,” he mumbled. Her response was only a slight smile. As Q entered her, her body seemed to melt as he pushed and pulled himself in and out of her, speeding up his pace at just the right time. The sensations drove Van over the edge as she dug her nails deep in Q’s skin, before burying her head in his chest climaxing. Her own contractions caused Q to lose control. He came, mixing his juices with hers. Gripping her buttocks tightly as his body produced throb after pulsating throb inside his soul-mate. As they lay exhausted in their own sweat the phone startled them.

  “Hello,” Van said.

  “Van, this is El. I hate to bother you but I didn’t have anyone else to call.”

  “What’s wrong El?”

  “Van it’s my brother Jason. He was picked up this morning during the sting operation.”