“Not yet. That’s what I’ve been trying to work on, but it seems like the odds are stacked against me right now. I have no money and, without that, I’m not getting very far.”
“What if I told you I would represent your boyfriend pro bono?”
Over a decade ago, Matt was the top criminal lawyer in Chicago. He’d provided services for several members of the drug cartel, as well as for plenty of crooked politicians. His name was notorious on the streets as the man who always had a plan to get his clients out of trouble. However, three years ago Matt’s reign came to an abrupt end when his alcohol addiction sent him on a downward spiral. He lost his firm, his 6,000-square-foot home, and his family all at damn near the same time. The only thing Matt had left to his name was his law degree.
He checked into rehab and relocated to Michigan in a desperate attempt to start his life over. For the past year, he’d been filling in at Michigan State for a law professor who was on maternity leave. When she came back, he got the boot and ended up at Wayne State University. The local school wasn’t his favorite choice; in fact, Matt had given himself a semester before quitting. He saw Kali’s boyfriend’s case as a great opportunity to get his name circulating in a positive light again. Like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he felt like he had just found his golden ticket.
“Do you mean that? You would really work for free?” Kali asked cautiously.
“Yes.” Matt couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Back in the day, he could name any price in the world for his services and now here he was doing charity work.
“Well, you’re hired.” Kali was so excited. She wasn’t too sure about Matt’s skill set, but he couldn’t be that bad if he was qualified to teach law.
“Let’s get back to class for now, but we can set aside some time this evening for a consultation.” Matt walked over to the lecture hall door.
“Wait.” Kali stopped. “Off the record, um, he . . .” She fumbled over her words. She wanted to be honest with him and tell him to be prepared for a fight because Bird really was guilty, but she wouldn’t dare let those words leave her lips for fear that he would change his mind about taking on the case.
“Is there any evidence?” Matt knew exactly why she was stumbling over her words.
“No tape and no weapon that I know of.” Kali exhaled, glad that she didn’t have to verbally spill the beans.
“Then don’t worry.” With a smile, Matt held the door open. “It’s never about what really happened. It’s about who can tell the best version of it. Trust me, I’m a great storyteller.” Matt winked at his new client before they reentered the classroom.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JAMAICA
“One, two, three . . .” Jamaica began counting to ten. She and Braxton were playing their third round of hide-and-seek. She was the seeker. “Four, five—”
Buzzzzz. Buzzzz.
“Six. Hello?” Jamaica flopped down on the couch, grateful for the interruption. It was a much-needed break.
“Jamaica! We’re not done playing hide-and-seek!” Braxton whined.
“Hi, Ma. Hold on a second.” Jamaica turned her attention to Braxton. “I’m sorry, little man, but I have to take this call. I’ll tell you what: you count to twenty, and then you go hide so I can look for you.”
“Okay. So you still gonna play with me then?”
“Of course I am. Go in the other room and count to twenty like I said. When you get to twenty go and find the best place to hide, so it’s really hard for me to find you. One, two, three, go!”
With that, Braxton took off running into the other room.
“Hello? Sorry about that, Mom.”
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all day,” Ms. Margie asked, sounding very agitated.
“My bad. I’ve been at Fly’s boyfriend’s house playing with Braxton. What’s wrong?”
“There has been a strange black car sitting across the street off and on all day,” she said as she peered through the blinds in her living room. She closed the blinds when she got paranoid that they would see her looking.
“Maybe the car is there for one of the neighbors.” Jamaica knew her mother could be very paranoid at times.
“Maybe, but I get a bad feeling every time I see dat thing.”
“Do you want me to come home and check it out?”
“No, you don’t have to do dat. Just be careful out there and watch your back.” Margie sat down on the couch and put her feet up. “Love you, Jamaica. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you too, Ma.” Jamaica ended the call just as Fly walked into the apartment with Kali on her heels. Both women looked exhausted. “How did it go with the lawyer?”
“This Lorton guy is a clown, but I don’t have much of a choice, so I have to use him.” Fly kicked off her black and pink Nikes and sat down on the sofa beside Jamaica. “He’s charging me fifteen hundred dollars to start.” She sighed. “I don’t know where I’m going to come up with that money, but I’ll figure something out.” She knew the money she made as a part-time hair salon receptionist wasn’t going to cut it.
“Damn, Fly. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it all out,” Jamaica said, trying to sound positive. “And how was your first day of classes?” Jamaica asked Kali.
“It was good. The strangest thing happened. My professor offered to represent Bird pro bono. I don’t know his stats or why he agreed to do it, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”
“What the fuck does pro bono mean?” Jamaica hated when people used words she wasn’t familiar with.
“It means he’ll do the work for free,” Kali explained.
Boom. Boom. The knocking on the door grabbed everyone’s attention. They thought there was about to be another raid. Instead, a slip of paper was slid under the door. Kali walked over and grabbed it.
“What does it say?” Fly sat up in her seat.
“It’s an eviction notice.” Kali scanned through the words. “It’s saying that Syn’s involvement in criminal misconduct violates the lease agreement and we need to vacate the premises immediately.” She handed the paper to Fly.
“Damn, y’all bitches done been kicked out twice in less than a week.” Jamaica reached behind her ear and grabbed a freshly rolled blunt.
“Now what the fuck are we going to do?” Fly set the letter down on the table and picked up the lighter.
“Y’all can always stay with me and my mom.” Jamaica grabbed the lighter from Fly and sparked the blunt.
“That’s cool and all, but we need to be thinking long term.” Kali took a seat on the thinking chair. “Now that Bird and Syn are gone we need to learn how to secure our own bag.” Kali was regretting not being more independent. She had grown used to Bird always taking care of things. Now, she wanted to make her own money, so if shit ever went sideways like this again, she wasn’t left twisting in the wind.
“You could always sell some ass like Jamaica.” With a giggle, Fly snatched the blunt and took a hard pull.
“Fuck selling ass; we need to sell that work!” Jamaica stated as a matter of fact. “Now don’t get me wrong, selling pussy pays the bill, but selling dope elevates you to a whole other level!”
“I hate to say it, but I definitely agree with what you’re saying.” Kali nodded. All summer she’d watched Bird make money hand over fist. Although she knew the risk that came with his profession was huge, she felt the reward was so worth it.
“Even if that were the case, we don’t have no drugs to sell.” Fly shook her head while passing the blunt to Kali.
“All we need to do is come up on a few dollars and buy a pack,” Jamaica said, serious as a heart attack.
“Bitch, if I don’t have money for a lawyer, where do you think I’m going to find money to buy some dope?” Fly rolled her eyes.
That’s when it hit Kali. “Before Bird turned himself in he gave me the garbage bags they took from the undercover stash house. He said there were five pounds of heroin and five thousand dollars in c
ash in them. Oh my God, I can’t believe I forgot about it so quickly.”
“Bitch, you been sitting on all that this whole time?” Jamaica jumped to her feet. “We could’ve been hood rich by now,” she joked.
“With so much going on I completely forgot. My bad, y’all.” Kali’s mind began racing.
“Let’s go get the work and put that shit on the streets,” Fly joined in. She was chomping at the bit to make some fast cash.
“Nah.” Kali shook her head. “We can’t use their drugs. That shit is probably hot or fake. But we can use their money to buy more drugs.”
“The money is probably more traceable than the dope. I say we go get that shit and get it popping,” Jamaica added.
“Who is going to buy from us?” Fly quizzed. “We need a team.”
“Shit, with all the street hustlers we know I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” Dollar signs began to dance in Jamaica’s eyes.
“What happened to you?” Braxton charged into the living room. He was pissed off. “I’ve been hiding for five hours.” On cue, Jamaica, Kali, and Fly busted out laughing at his overdramatic antics.
“It was more like five minutes, but I’m sorry, little man.” Jamaica tried to hug Brax, but he wasn’t having it. Instead, he went and sat on Kali’s lap.
“Hey, little man. Don’t be so upset!” She shook him up and tickled his stomach.
“Stop!” he said through giggles and chuckling.
“Hey, Braxton. You want to watch The Lego Batman Movie in the other room?”
“Yeah, yeah, I wanna see it!” Braxton said as he leaped off of Kali and started jumping up and down.
“Okay, c’mon. I’ll order it on the TV. Let’s go,” she said as she led him into the other room. She disappeared for all of thirty seconds and came back to join her friends so they could continue with their game plan.
“Is it raw or cut?” Although Fly had never dealt directly with heroin, she knew there was a significant difference between the two.
“I never even looked in the bag,” Kali admitted.
“If it’s raw we’re screwed, unless either of you knows how to cut that shit.” Jamaica looked from Fly to Kali.
“I think I got a guy who can help us,” Kali said deep in thought. “Jamaica, we’ll take you up on your offer to stay with you and your mom but, first, I need to go do something. In the meantime, y’all grab whatever we need from this place, and I’ll meet y’all at Ms. Margie’s house in a few.”
“Where are you going?” Both Jamaica and Fly asked in unison.
“Church!” With a smirk, Kali tossed up the deuces and walked out. It was time to get the dope and call Ahmad.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
KALI
Just after 7:00 p.m., Kali pulled up to the church. “Fuck!” She hit the steering wheel. The entire parking lot was full, which meant there was some kind of event going on inside. She pondered coming back another time but remembered how important getting those bags was, so she parked.
Stepping from the car, Kali swung the book bag she’d brought with her over her shoulders and headed toward the door. Once inside, she walked through the church like she belonged there. Her father’s voice could be heard from the sanctuary. He was talking about marriage being a sacred institution ordained by God between one man and one woman. Kali peered into the window on the door of the sanctuary and saw several couples sitting in pews and listening to the Word.
“I didn’t expect to see you here tonight,” a voice called from down the hall.
Kali turned to see Desmond. “And why is that?”
He was dressed to the nines in a tailored gray Italian linen suit. “Because it’s couples’ night, and we both know your man ain’t here.” He smirked.
“I’m glad you find that funny.” Kali tried to bypass her old lover, but he gently grabbed her arm.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” he mumbled. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” Desmond nodded. “You’re looking good, too.” Silently he roamed every inch of her body and wished like hell she was still his.
“Thanks, Desmond, so do you.” Kali glanced at him with a smile. She had no hard feelings toward her ex, really. She’d cooled off since their last conversation. In fact, she still cared for him tremendously, but she knew just as he did that they would never be together; at least, not in this lifetime.
“Maybe one day we can grab lunch or something.” Right in the middle of his invitation the door to the sanctuary opened.
“There you are.” A beautiful dark-skinned woman with sister locks stopped in the doorway.
“Nicole, this is Kali. Kali, this is Nicole, my fiancée.” Desmond let Kali’s arm go.
“It’s nice to meet you, Nicole.” Kali extended her hand.
“Same here.” Nicole purposely avoided Kali’s hand and grabbed her man’s arm instead. “Come on, baby. The pastor is on fire in here.”
“See you later, Kali.” Desmond followed his woman back inside.
“Later.” Kali laughed all the way into the mission room. Like a thief in the night, she grabbed the bags and stuffed them into her book bag. After everything was secure, she fled the church like a fugitive on the run. The last thing she needed was another run-in with her parents.
Quickly she opened the book bag and tossed the bags into her trunk. She ripped one open. “Damn!” Just like she suspected, the heroin was raw. Kali closed the trunk and got in the car. Before starting the engine, she reached into her purse and retrieved Ahmad’s number.
“Hello,” he answered on the third ring.
“Hey, it’s Kali.”
“I knew you’d be calling sooner or later.” He laughed. “Just tell me what you need, and I got it.”
“I need a favor. Can we meet somewhere private?”
“I’m at my family’s store on the corner of Livernois and Eight Mile. Come through; I’ll be waiting for you.”
“See you in about twenty minutes.” Kali tossed the phone onto the passenger seat then took off toward her destination.
Exactly nineteen minutes later she pulled up to the corner store and parked. She grabbed the trash bags then walked up to the store. The sign on the door said CLOSED, but Ahmad buzzed her in.
“Are we alone?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Follow me.” He walked toward the back of the store, past the chips and popcorn, and then made a left past the beer and wine. Ahmad pressed his thumb on the door panel, and it opened up. Kali wasn’t sure why the corner store had a thumbprint reader, but she was sure she’d find out shortly.
“Welcome to the candy shop!” Ahmad turned on the light, and Kali gasped. The room was filled with weed plants, tables of Baggies and pills, as well as various store merchandise.
“Damn, this is impressive.” Kali was used to only seeing shit like this on television.
“So, what can I do for you?”
“Are you familiar with heroin?” Kali tossed her bags at Ahmad’s feet. “I need this cut.”
“Holy shit!” He reached into a bag and pulled a few bricks out. “Where did you get this?”
“That’s not important,” Kali snapped. “Can you show me how to cut this or not?”
“Yeah, I got you, but I can’t do it for free. This is going to take a few hours.”
“Of course. I got you.” Truth was Kali had no money to pay him, but she’d figure something out by the time he was finished.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Ahmad walked over to one of the empty tables and put on a pair of rubber gloves. He unwrapped the first package of heroin and grabbed a few items from another table. “I’m going to mix this with quinine and dormin,” he said before putting on a pair of safety goggles.
“What is that?” Kali stood a safe enough distance from the product.
“The quinine is used for the initial rush it gives the person injecting or inhaling the blow to enhance their experience. The dormin is l
ike a sleeping pill. The reason this was added is self-explanatory.” As Ahmad worked he went on to explain that cutting heroin was a very delicate process; one small mistake could potentially destroy the entire bag. He recommended that they only mix a little bit at a time, but she told him to whip it all.
Kali watched closely and even got hands-on with the second batch. She wanted to get the formula down pat so she wouldn’t need a third party next time.
Two hours later and all the work had been whipped and bagged for distribution. “Now all you have to do is put it out there.” Ahmad snatched off his gloves and threw them in the trash.
“Can you help me with that? Since you showed me how to cut it and all, I’ll sell it to you for a good price.” Kali smiled. “I usually don’t fuck with the hard stuff.”
Ahmad started to say something but then thought about it for a second. “I have had a lot of requests lately; so, how much of a good price are we talking?” He knew a pound of good snow powder could go for around $15,000. He needed Kali’s number to come in under that before he took the bait.
“I’ll sell it to you for twelve thousand dollars a pound. If you buy two, I’ll sell them for eleven thousand dollars each.” The last few months Kali spent with Bird she paid a lot of attention to detail, especially when it came to money. She knew what the going rate was; therefore, she knew Ahmad wouldn’t dare turn down her offer.
Ahmad blew out a whistle. Although he wasn’t prepared to drop twenty bands, he knew he couldn’t afford to pass up a deal with so much profit potential. “Wait here.” He walked over to the safe on the wall, used his thumbprint again, and retrieved a few stacks of money. “You know we can’t both sell this at the university.” Ahmad liked Kali immediately, but he wanted her to know the school was his turf.
“It’s all yours.” She raised her hands in surrender. In all honesty, she didn’t want any part of selling heroin on campus.
“Cool.” With that, Ahmad handed over the money.
Hurriedly Kali put the cash in her book bag along with the other two pounds of heroin, and she got the fuck out of dodge. She couldn’t wait to tell her girls they were already $20,000 richer.
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