“I’m alright,” Rayshawn assured her and it seemed like he was. He put his hat back on and wiped his face with his shirt.
“Let’s go.”
****
Four hours after the phone call, Rayshawn and his small family were checked into the Ritz Carlton in downtown Washington Heights and impatiently waiting for Slim to come pick them up. Rayshawn had calmed down tremendously. Now, he was the comforter for his girls as the news of King being shot finally hit them. Plus he realized that the crew was looking to him and he had to handle his business.
Slim didn’t think it was a good idea for Rayshawn and Jaicyn to be riding around Washington Heights without any protection so he volunteered to come to the hotel and get them. When Slim called, saying he was in the hotel lobby, Rayshawn interrupted Jaicyn’s conversation with her sisters in the bedroom of their hotel suite.
“Slim’s here,” he announced. “We have to go.”
Rayshawn noticed more tears in Rickie and Bobbie’s eyes. They were worried about King and wanted to go to the hospital. Jaicyn refused. They didn’t need to see King in a hospital bed.
If someone had predicted that when Rayshawn was recruited to work for King, that he, Dayshawn, King, Sandy, Jaicyn, and her sisters would be closer than a family that shared the same blood Rayshawn wouldn’t have believed it. He completely understood why Rickie and Bobbie were distraught. He also knew that Jaicyn didn’t have the words to comfort them because there were no words. No one had any real information as to what had happened except King and Blaque and both of them were unconscious.
Jaicyn kissed her sisters on their foreheads and stood up.
“We’ll be back. I’ll call you when I know something.”
She ruffled Bobbie’s ponytail. “It’s going to be okay Muffin.”
Rayshawn remembered hearing those same words when he was eleven. His mother’s best friend had hugged him and Dayshawn as they loaded Shani’s bleeding body into an ambulance and told them the same thing.
The twins had been asleep when Jared came home from a party. Shani was sitting at the dining room table making jewelry. The beaded necklaces and ornate bracelets had become a hobby of hers, a hobby that she only got to do after the boys were asleep and her husband wasn’t home demanding all of her attention.
Jared had spent the evening drinking and partying with his brothers and sisters. No knew what happened that prompted him to come home and start the fight with his wife. The argument was loud and Jared had slapped Shani. The twins had woke up when they heard Shani yelling at her husband. Rayshawn had wanted to help her but Dayshawn held him back. Their parents had been arguing more than usual over the past few months but the fights never turned violent.
When they heard the loud slap followed by Shani’s screams, Dayshawn snuck out of the bedroom and used the cordless phone to call 911. The cops arrived at the same time Jared fired two shots from his revolver into his wife’s chest.
Shani died on the way to the hospital and everything was not okay.
When Rayshawn and Jaicyn got in Slim’s car, no one spoke a word even though they hadn’t seen each other in months. Slim’s leg twitched like it always did when he was upset. He was on edge. Rayshawn had hoped that the flight from Los Angeles would have taken some of Slim’s edge off but it hadn’t. He hoped the man was smart enough not to go shoot up all of Washington Heights.
When Slim pulled his rental into the Emergency Room lot, Sandy was waiting for them with her son Andre Carter Jr.; AJ for short. Sandy looked terrible. At seven months pregnant with her second child and her husband in a hospital bed, no one expected her usual fashion show.
When she saw Rayshawn and Jaicyn she burst out in tears and wrapped her arms around them in a tightly. Jaicyn held onto Sandy the longest and tightest. She knew what Sandy was going through. The woman was actually living Jaicyn’s worst nightmare. All Jaicyn could do was hold her hand and make sure she had a strong shoulder to cry on.
Rayshawn and Slim walked up to King’s room in the ICU. For security purposes, Sandy had insisted that Blaque and King be in the same room. Corey, Marcus, Little Man, and Johnny were keeping watch outside the door. No one knew who had pulled the trigger but they weren’t taking any chances that someone would try to finish the job.
Their hard edged expressions softened a little when Slim rounded the corner with Rayshawn by his side. Corey and the others were worried that Rayshawn wasn’t going to come back to Washington Heights. Seeing him almost made the crew happy. Tonight, with King shot and Rayshawn in town, they’d earn their pay for real.
“What’s the word?” Rayshawn asked.
“Blaque’s gon be alright,” Corey answered. “He caught one in the thigh and in the shoulder.”
“And King?” Rayshawn wanted to know.
Corey shook his head from side to side. “He’s all fucked up. Two in the chest, close to his heart. They say it’s touch and go. He’s in a coma.”
“I’m goin’ in,” Rayshawn said, looking at the closed door. “Then we’ll talk.”
Rayshawn walked into the dim and sterile room. The monitors keeping tabs on King’s vital signs hummed and beeped. A young nurse was checking Blaque’s bandages. She smiled when she saw Rayshawn.
“Are you his son?” she asked, looking towards King.
“Yeah,” Rayshawn choked out. He never imagined that he’d be staring at King lying in a hospital bed in a coma. He wasn’t handling it well.
The young nurse smiled soothingly.
“I’m Tracy,” she introduced herself. “I’m your dad’s nurse.”
“Is he gonna make it?” Rayshawn hesitated to ask but he had to know. It didn’t look like King would make it, with all those tubes and machines he was hooked up too. Rayshawn had only seen ventilators in movies and the person it was attached to never made it.
Tracy looked down at King and then at Rayshawn.
“He’s fighting,” she answered slowly. “You should talk to his doctors and surgeon. I’ll get them for you.”
When Tracy left the room, Rayshawn walked over to King’s bed and sat down in the chair. He stared at King. When the boss got hit, shit had to get handled and fast. King had millions of dollars at stake plus a wife and two kids. His empire was strong. As long as Rayshawn was alive, it would remain that way.
“King,” Rayshawn said in a low voice, “I’m here. You don’t have to worry about nothing. I got you man.”
Rayshawn stared at King, hoping to see some type of acknowledgement but King didn’t move. Rayshawn got up and walked over to Blaque’s bed. His arm was in a cast. So was his leg. Other than that he looked normal. He opened his eyes when he felt Rayshawn staring at him.
“What’s up,” Blaque said hoarsely. “It’s good to see you man.”
“Not like this,” Rayshawn answered.
“It’s all good,” Blaque said. “I trust that you got this taken care of.”
“Yeah,” Rayshawn replied. “I’m going to take care of everything.”
“I believe you. Is King gonna live?” Blaque asked but Rayshawn shrugged.
“Get some rest, man,” he said. “I’ll be back.”
Rayshawn walked out of the room with his hands tucked deep into his jeans pockets. Sandy and Jaicyn had joined the crew. Sandy was still holding Jaicyn’s hand when Rayshawn spoke to her.
“What did the doctor say?”
“One of the bullets went through his lung,” Sandy cried. “They had to put him in a coma so he wouldn’t have to breathe on his own. They say we just have to wait and pray.”
Rayshawn shut his eyes for a second. This was worse than his mom. He didn’t want to wait and see if King was going to make it. Waiting would kill him.
Get it together, he scolded himself and opened his eyes.
“Call K-ci and Sonny and have them meet us at the Park,” he ordered Little Man. “The rest of y’all, strap up and head over there too.”
In this situation, Oak Park projects was the safest place for anyone
in King’s crew. Plus it was the best place to get information. When something as serious as the kingpin getting shot happened, the streets would be hot with gossip. And Rayshawn needed to know who had done this.
The crew fell in line like soldiers and started to walk away. Sandy dropped Jaicyn’s hand and grabbed Rayshawn’s arm.
“All of you can’t go! You can’t leave him here without any protection, Rayshawn!”
Slim and Rayshawn looked at Jaicyn.
“Give me a piece,” she said. “Me and Johnny will hang back.”
Slim handed Jaicyn a small handgun that she skillfully tucked under her sweater.
“You know what to do,” he said. Jaicyn nodded.
Next to Blaque and Slim, none of the guys could think of anyone who’d do a better job of looking out for King than Jaicyn. If anyone came near King’s door that wasn’t wearing scrubs and hospital identification she would blow their head off in the middle of the ICU and not think twice.
Rayshawn gave Sandy a hug and Jaicyn a quick kiss.
“I’ll be back later, I promise.”
“It’s all good, baby,” Jaicyn assured him. “Handle your business.”
Chapter 6
Rayshawn stood in the kitchen in the ‘main house’, the apartment that served as headquarters for the Little Man and the Oak Park dealers. Seated at the table were Corey, Marcus, Slim, Johnny, and Little Man. K-ci and Sonny had found chairs and pulled them into the kitchen. Rayshawn fully expected t the men gathered in front of him to know why they were there and have some answers for him.
“You know why you’re here,” Rayshawn started, “so let’s get to it. What the fuck happened?”
“People are sayin’ some west side niggas shot up the dealership,” Corey spoke up.
“That’s not good enough! What people? What niggas?” Rayshawn yelled. “The west side is full of niggas! I need more than that!”
“They say it might have been Ramel and his crew,” Corey added.
Rayshawn rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He couldn’t believe that his crew was giving him ‘maybe’ and ‘might haves’ when he wanted definite answers.
“Who the fuck are ‘they’?” Rayshawn yelled.
Little Man grimaced at the ferocity in Rayshawn’s voice. Rayshawn’s poor anger management hadn’t gotten any better over the years. Little Man knew that the halfhearted effort that the crew had made to find King’s shooters was enough to make Rayshawn completely lose it.
It was too soon to know anything though. News didn’t travel as fast as it once did in Washington Heights. People on the streets were speculating, but without knowing if King was going to live or die, whoever did the shooting was keeping quiet. It could be days or even weeks before they found out anything concrete.
Little Man knew that if he didn’t find out something soon, Rayshawn would be the first to lose his composure, followed by Slim. He had tried to get a handle on the situation before Rayshawn got to Washington Heights but didn’t have any luck. If somebody didn’t find out something soon, Rayshawn and Slim were likely to hit the streets of Washington Heights and shoot anyone they thought had information.
“It’s just what people in the hood are guessing,” Little Man tried to clarify. “No one really knows anything yet, Rayshawn. But we’re on it. You just got to relax and give us a few days. We’ll find them.”
Rayshawn looked at the supposed leaders of King’s crew and took a deep breath. He tried to calm himself before he said something that he really didn’t mean.
“All of you are slackin’ off and there’s no excuse for that shit,” Rayshawn said. “This is the south side. I don’t care how long I’ve been gone, but I know that niggas from the south side don’t let people get away with shit like this. Every single one of us in this room would either be broke or dead if it wasn’t for King and Blaque. They’re laying up in hospital beds and all you can say is we’ll get them. Fuck that!”
He looked around the room at all seven guys. All were looking right back at him. This was a moment that they’d been waiting for; the moment that Rayshawn had been groomed for. King had spent years teaching him how to control the streets. They were glad to see him acting like the boss, finally.
“Last time I checked we run this damn city. We make people talk. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. We need to be on the west side hunting those niggas down, making people talk. I don’t care what it takes. If you’re going to act like a girl and whine about drug wars and gun fights, go home. But remember, there are consequences for not stepping up.”
Rayshawn stopped talking long enough to catch the fear on K-ci and Sonny’s faces. They had always been the weakest in King’s crew. Hell, Sonny was even scared of Jaicyn. That’s why she was able to take corners away from him when she was running the Park. Rayshawn’s speech had little effect on the two cowards. Everybody stayed in their seats though.
“I’m not bullshittin’,” Rayshawn yelled. “Get the fuck out of here and do something! Bring me a name and hurry the fuck up!”
He walked out of the kitchen and sat down on a couch. The apartment looked exactly as he and Jaicyn had left it three years ago. It still felt like his place…comfortable. He reached for the half finished blunt in an ashtray and lit it.
Rayshawn hadn’t smoked weed since he left Washington Heights. The smoke burned his lungs as he inhaled. He choked back a cough and held the smoke in his lungs. The first toke had him feeling light headed but it passed.
Slim sat down across from Rayshawn when the others left the apartment. He knew his role without anyone saying anything. Rayshawn was home and until he was back on a plane to Atlanta, Slim would be right there watching his back. Rayshawn passed him the blunt.
“How are things in Atlanta?”
“It’s all good,” Rayshawn lied. He didn’t want to get in to the trouble he was having finding D-train. “Heard you’re doin’ big things in Cali.”
“Yeah,” Slim agreed, “you could say that. Got my real estate license like Jay-Jay. Gotta turn that good drug money into good legit money.”
“Same here,” Rayshawn replied. “King taught us that quick.”
“Yeah, he taught us a lot. He turned some young hood niggas into real businessmen.” Slim laughed and toked his weed.
“He better make it.” The worry in Slim’s voice caused Rayshawn to look up at him. But he didn’t say anything.
“Look, man,” Slim said, “I know you’re buggin’ out. I feel you, bro. King’s like my father too. I’ve been around that man since I was ten years old. I don’t have no daddy. He’s the only father I know. You don’t have to pretend this shit isn’t killing you. Not around me.”
Rayshawn stared vacantly across the room at the wall then at Slim. His eyes were watering and when Slim blinked, a single tear slid down his cheek.
“He saw something special in you, kid,” Slim said. “I remember him saying that all the time.”
“He gave me a chance,” Rayshawn mumbled. “I probably would’ve ended up selling dope anyway, but he taught me the right way to do it. He taught me what a real family is supposed to be.”
“Same here. But the nigga ain’t dead yet, so let’s stop talking about him like he is. Hand me that box of Dutches.”
Rayshawn passed the box of cigars and waited while Slim rolled them both another blunt. As they smoked Rayshawn thought about everything he left in Washington Heights. Namely his family. Not his flesh and blood family. They still didn’t give a shit about him, but the dealers that he spent the majority of his time with.
King had changed Rayshawn’s life. He had taken a kid who felt no one cared about him and showed him that life didn’t stop just because your real family was fucked up. He showed the twins what it was like to have a real family, people around them that genuinely cared about their well being.
King took two teenage boys under his wing and became a father to them, whether he meant to or not. He did what Jared and Ike Moore had failed to do; taught those boys how to be
come men. And now that man was in the hospital, weakened by two bullets to the chest and all Rayshawn wanted to do was kill someone.
When his blunt was nothing more than a quarter inch of brown cigar Little Man tossed Rayshawn a Dutch Master and a dime bag. No words were spoken, just blunt after blunt was smoked by the top men in the crew. Rayshawn just wanted to lose himself in the haze of the good Columbian weed. He’d deal with the bullshit later.
****
“Jay-Jay?” croaked the voice in the bed across from King.
Jaicyn was dozing in the chair next to King’s bed when she head Blaque say her name. She got up and walked over to his bed.
“What’s up?” she greeted him sleepily.
“What time is it?”
Jaicyn looked at her watch. “12:30. Why? You got someplace to be?”
“No,” Blaque said and managed a small smile. “Who’s here?”
“It’s just me right. now”
Jaicyn had sent Sandy and AJ home. Johnny went home to shower and was coming right back. It had been two days but Jaicyn hadn’t left King or Blaque’s side at all.
“How’s King? He alive?”
Jaicyn nodded. Since she’d gotten to the hospital, Blaque had the one moment with Rayshawn where he was conscious. But then he started to have an allergic reaction to the medication they gave him and he lost consciousness for a minute. He’d been out of it for the most part.
“They say he’s going to make it. He woke up once but the doctors don’t think he’s ready to breathe on his own yet. They’re gonna take him off the respirator in a couple of days. How are you feeling?” Jaicyn asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Blaque answered. “Did they say when I could go home?”
Jaicyn shook her head. She knew that Blaque was anxious to get out of the hospital but she didn’t have any answers for him. All she knew was that his shoulder and leg wounds were more serious than he thought.
A Hustler's Promise 2 Promises Kept Page 5