Harlem Girl Lost 2

by Blue, Treasure E.

  Johnson spoke up. “Yeah, and the only way we can know that is if we have someone on the inside. If we don’t, we could be walking into an ambush and get slaughtered.”

  Cleveland knew he was right and didn’t have a good answer to tell them.

  All seemed impossible from the start until Tiny managed to speak up though her rough, crude voice. “I can get that information for you.”

  Everyone turned their attention toward the sickly girl with reservations.

  Skeptical, Johnson questioned her, “And how are you going to do that, little lady?”

  Tiny stared at the man and was offended by him calling her little. Tiny countered back coldly, “Because, I’m a motherfucking dope fiend, and I get high in that spot all the time and everybody knows me, old man.”

  Johnson stared at her grimly, until Doc broke the tension by laughing out loud.

  Cleveland nodded his approval and quickly inquired, “Do you think you can get us information on their security, their locations, and where they hold the drugs and the money at?”

  They looked at Tiny with anticipating eyes and she simply answered, “Yeah, I can do that, but that’s the least of your problems.”

  Everyone’s smiles turned into frowns as they awaited an answer.

  Impatient, Johnson spewed, “Ok, spit it out.”

  Tiny didn’t like the huge man much and snarled at him before she answered. “Getting into the building is going to be the problem. If you ain’t no smoker or a tenant they ain’t letting you get in the building. And even if you do get in to cop the drugs, if they don’t remember you are going to raise suspicion and they will test you by making you smoke crack right in front of them to be sure. And trust me; none of y’all want to hit that glass dick.”

  They all thought about her words then Cleveland asked, “So what about other entrances?”

  “They have every entrance—the roof, the side entrance, and even the first and second floor windows booby trapped,” Tiny answered. “They got low explosives for the windows, and you might just lose a finger or two, but its primary function is to warn them in case someone tries to get in. But on the roof I hear they got that big shit, that C-4. Even if we make it in there, it’s going to be a problem getting out without getting blown up.”

  Being that he was an expert at explosives, Johnson grew alarmed by her vast knowledge about explosives and challenged her again. “How do you know so much about the locations of the explosives? Better yet, how do you know about explosives period?”

  Everyone was still skeptical about the job from the beginning, and this seemed like a question they all needed to know. Tiny scanned the room at everyone waiting eagerly for her response. She turned her attention back to her questioner and said, “Because me and some other people was going to rob the place about six months ago.”

  Johnson, still not convinced said, “Cleveland, that’s too much of a fucking coincidence for this li’l girl to be so close to this shit. Before I go further she got to tell us everything and convince me she ain’t trying to use us to do the robbery for her. She got to provide some names or something.”

  Tiny jumped, enraged, and said, “Motherfucker, I don’t need to convince you to do shit for me. You free to do whatever the fuck you want to do because I don’t have to answer to your old ass or nobody else.”

  Johnson had enough and stood up to leave. “Cleveland, you my man and all that, but this whole shit smells like a damn setup if you ask me. I suggest you stay out of it too.”

  Cleveland tried to stop him, but Johnson had already made up his mind and continued to walk toward the door. As he opened the door to leave, there was a large box in front of the door with a mysterious note attached to the top of it.

  To the people inside this room

  Cleveland and Johnson looked at each other in silence. Johnson bent down and shook the box gently before he picked it up and handed it off to Cleveland. The small group of people inside the room were surprised to see both men reenter the room carrying a box. Cleveland brought it into the living room and placed it on the table and then passed around the note. When everyone read the note they eagerly awaited Cleveland’s next move.

  Cleveland reached in his pocket and pulled out a folding knife that was attached to a valley of keys and opened it. Everyone stood and walked closer to the box as Cleveland made an incision to the stripping. He looked around at everyone before he opened, and when he did all they saw was balled-up newspapers. He slowly began removing the contents, and that’s when they all saw it—the severed head of their homegirl Lynn.

  Jessica and Vonda immediately backed away from the box and began to cry hysterically. Tiny fell back into the chair and began to shake uncontrollably as she lifted her knee to her chin. Cleveland and Doc ran over to Jessica and Vonda, who were both on the floor crying their hearts out, and tried to console them. Johnson even approached Tiny and put his hand on her frail shoulders and offered her his condolences. Shooter stared down into the box and removed another letter that was inside.

  When everyone finally gained their composure, Jessica and Vonda sat on the couch in a daze. Shooter handed Cleveland the letter and he read it quickly. He looked at the three girls, dumbfounded, and didn’t know whether they could handle any more bad news. He decided it was best that they know and cleared his throat.

  “Uh, um, ladies, I think you should hear this.”

  He stared at the letter again proceeded to read it aloud.

  I guess most of you didn't take my warning serious enough, and as a result, one of you paid for it with their life. I warned you that I will be watching, but your friend had other plans and had her clothes packed to leave town. BIG MISTAKE! You have four days to fulfill our contract and hopefully you now realize that I'm serious.

  Nobody said a word and realized that this mysterious person was playing for keeps. The men also knew that they were now involved just as deep as the girls since the package was delivered to Cleveland’s apartment. They knew they were all being watched.

  Humbled now, Johnson was the first one to speak. “I’m sorry about your friend, ladies, and I don’t want to sound insensitive, but we got to come up with a plan and soon, because whoever this person is, he is deadly serious and we don’t have much time to waste.”

  Doc finally spoke up and for the first time he was all business. “He’s right; if we have any chance of pulling this off, we are going to need all the information that we can get from all of you.”

  He looked at Tiny, who was still sulking in the chair.

  Doc bent down and spoke to her softly, “Now, we are going to need that information to help you three live. So you got to tell us everything you know, starting with the robbery you were to be involved in.”

  Tiny closed her eyes and nodded. She took a deep breath and said, “About six months ago I was approached by a friend of mine that I’ve known for years. He told me that he had plans to rob this stash house that had a lot of money and drugs stored inside and needed some people in on the job with him. He had a dude that worked on the inside who provided him with all the information that I told you, down to the rooms that had all the money and where the drugs were stashed at. It would have been perfect, but none of us knew anything about explosives and had no way how to get around it, so I guess they gave up and didn’t want to risk getting blown up.”

  Doc smiled at Tiny and said, “Good, real good, but I’m going to need something else from you.”

  He paused to give her a moment; he didn’t want to press her too hard.

  Tiny nodded.

  Doc gave her an assuring smile again and asked, “Do you think that person still has that information and does he have a name? Because this could make the difference if we live or die, so you got to tell us.”

  There was total silence as they awaited an answer. Tiny knew he was right and looked at Vonda and Jessica and answered, “Yeah, it was my friend Chubby, Vonda’s baby brother.”

  Everyone turned and looked in Vonda’s direct
ion.

  They asked Vonda to see if she could contact her brother and see if he could come over and fill them in on what he knew. Vonda called her house throughout the night and was told by her mother that Chubby had yet to arrive home. Vonda finally told her mother that when he arrived to come over to where she was at and gave her the address and apartment.

  For the remainder of the night and till nearly dawn, they slaved over coming up with a feasible plan. They were happy with the plan that they devised but still needed the vital information from their missing link—Chubby.

  It was nearly six in the morning when they heard a loud crash at the door, catching them all by surprise. A huge man in a ski mask wielding a 12 gauge shotgun ordered everyone to the floor. Shooter was the first to react and reach for a weapon, but the gunman proved to be faster and pointed his weapon in his direction and warned him, “One more move, motherfucker, and I’m putting your brains on top of the ceiling.”

  Shooter slowly removed his hand from behind him, where he had his weapon concealed.

  Vonda jumped up and screamed, “Chubby, put that weapon down, we are ok!”

  Chubby stared around and saw that they were in fact safe, lowered his weapon, and removed his mask. Everyone began to breathe easier knowing that their lives was no longer in danger.

  Vonda scolded him. “Why the fuck would you come busting in here like the police, Chubby?”

  Chubby suddenly began to sway back and forth. “Mama told me you were calling all night looking for me. She said that you sounded like you were crying, so I thought you were in trouble and wasn’t taking any chances.”

  “But still, Chubby, tell me why did you have to kick this man’s whole door off?”

  Chubby eyed the floor like a child who was caught stealing cookies out of the cookie jar and had to tell the truth. “Because I rather shoot first and ask questions later.”

  His cavalier answer sent chills down everyone’s spine, especially Jessica’s, and she knew at that moment Chubby was far from the loveable little boy she once knew—he was a killer.

  Doc relieved the tension and joked, “I like this young man’s style. I never saw anyone get the jump on Shooter before.”

  Vonda grabbed him by his arm and led him over to Cleveland and introduced him, “Chubby, this is Cleveland; it’s his door that you kicked down.”

  They shook hands cautiously, and Chubby humbly apologized. “I’m sorry about your door, man.”

  Cleveland was surprised with his sudden change of character. Just a moment ago he was a monster, and now he was shaking hands with the gentleness of a lamb.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get another one.”

  Chubby said, “Naw man, it was my bad, I’ll take care of it.” Chubby reached inside his pocket and pulled out a large wad of cash and peeled off two crisp one-hundred-dollar bills and handed it to Cleveland. He peeled off an additional hundred dollars and added, “And this one is for your troubles.”

  Vonda introduced Chubby to everyone as he acknowledged them with a nod. He smiled when he saw Jessica and Tiny and gave them both a hug. After a momentary period of silence Chubby noticed that all the girls had their heads hung low and knew something wasn’t right.

  “So what’s wrong?”

  Vonda suddenly burst into tears, followed by Jessica who did the same thing. Both girls were crying so hard that he could not make out a word that they were saying, until finally, Cleveland gestured for Chubby to follow him into the back.

  Cleveland took Chubby to the bedroom where he had taken Lynn’s severed head. Cleveland told him that he should brace himself before he opened the box to show him. Chubby stared down at it long and hard while Cleveland informed him, “This is their friend Lynn, I think you know her.”

  He nodded slowly and showed no outward emotions. Chubby finally looked up from the box and into Cleveland’s eyes and asked through gritted teeth, “Who did this shit to her?”

  It was then Cleveland noticed that the huge man eyes were now bloodshot and watery. Cleveland patted him on his wide shoulder and said, “I think it would be best if we explain everything from the beginning.”

  When Jessica watched the two men enter back into the living room, it was clear by looking at Chubby that it had affected him deeply because his jaw was clenching wildly and he had the look of revenge in his eyes. Jessica knew that Chubby had loved Lynn as much as her, and knew someone had hell to pay.

  Vonda asked her little brother, “You ok, Chubby?”

  Chubby looked his sister in the eye and needn’t say a word and she got the message.

  It was a momentary stillness until Cleveland broke the ominous silence and offered, “Jessica, I think it would be best if you explain to him everything that led up to this.”

  Already exhausted, Jessica found enough strength to tell Chubby everything that went on since the beginning. Chubby never even flinched. They gave Chubby a moment to process everything that he had just heard.

  He suddenly looked up and asked, “How can I be part of this?”

  Cleveland looked around at all the men to see if he could be a part of their group, more out of courtesy, and one by one, each man nodded their approval. Even Johnson was happy to have him aboard and smiled widely. They knew from experience that the huge man-child that stood before them was a natural born killer and were happy to have him on their team instead of against them.

  Cleveland smiled and said, “You’re in, young man.” Cleveland wasted no time as he looked at Chubby and requested, “First things first, we need to ask you some very important questions that can help us.”

  Cleveland gestured toward Doc, and he didn’t hesitate to ask him the one question that would help them the most: “The person you had on the inside, does he still work for them there?”

  Chubby, still grim-faced, answered, “Yeah, he still there, but like Tiny told you, I was gonna hit them before, but it was no way around those booby traps.”

  Cleveland gave him a cunning smile and said, “Young man, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore.”

  Chapter 24

  It was Friday, and no one had left Cleveland’s apartment for the past two days. Johnson did leave the house only out of respect for the girls, and took their best friend’s body part far away from them and stored it in a freezer. Tiny and Chubby proved to be a vital part of the operation, and it would’ve been impossible to pull off without them. Tiny was given the first assignment to go to the intended building and simply get high all day and do an early assessment of the inner workings of the building. She was given five hundred dollars cash to stay as long as it took to gather as much information as she could. Since Chubby’s inside man worked a full twelve-hour shift, seven days a week, he knew exactly where he would be at that time.

  Chubby and Johnson pulled up in front of an old and decrepit tenement building on 126th Street between St. Nicholas and Morningside that appeared to be abandoned. Chubby nodded to Johnson and cut off his ignition, then they exited the car. Even though the building was officially abandoned by its owner, it still had electricity on inside. They entered the makeshift door and proceeded up to the top floor. The well-worn rickety staircase creaked loudly as they made their way up the stairs.

  They were almost at the final level when a tall, medium-built, brown skinned man, who appeared to be in his late twenties, opened a door and yelled, “You better have a good reason to be here, motherfucka,” as he wielded a wooden bat.

  Chubby didn’t even bother to answer the man and continued up the stairs as if he wasn’t even there. When the man recognized who it was he nearly panicked and began apologizing immediately. “Oh, shit, Chubby, I . . . I didn’t know that was you,” he stammered.

  The man backed away as Chubby approached him. Chubby only stared down upon the man with his dark, sullen eyes until he began to tremble. Chubby simply walked past the man and into his apartment without as much as an invitation. Johnson followed suit as Chubby scanned the sparse and unkempt empty ap
artment and saw drug paraphernalia littered all around the room. Chubby knew the man was a crack addict and all his pay went toward drugs.

  Chubby asked, “Anybody else here, Sweets?”

  “Yeah, Chubby, just my old lady. I think she went into the bathroom.”

  “Tell her to come out,” Chubby said simply.

  Sweets didn’t hesitate and walked over to the bathroom and opened it. “Come on out, baby. It’s ok, it’s just some friends of mines.”

  It was obvious that the woman was just as scared as her man by the way she eyed the floor as she slowly exited the bathroom. The woman was light-skinned and very small, no bigger than Tiny. She couldn’t have been older than twenty years old, but could’ve passed as younger if it weren’t for her stress-marked face caused by lack of sleep and everyday drug use. As they got closer, Chubby and Johnson immediately knew she was pregnant from the hard, round bump on her stomach that she desperately tried to hide.

  Sweets tried to smile and introduced her to Chubby and his scary looking friend behind him. “Chubby, this here is Katie.”

  She acknowledged them with a slight nod, still avoiding eye contact. Chubby turned his attention back to Sweets, who also was avoiding Chubby’s penetrating stare. He knew Chubby wasn’t a fool, and he wasn’t too happy that he had his girl still smoking crack while she was pregnant. “Ok, you go over there and sit down now.”

  She scurried off immediately.

  Chubby looked around the apartment and saw the kitchen was on the left and entered it. Old dirty bowls and dishes were stacked all over the counter and inside the sink as roaches ran freely over them. He proceeded to the refrigerator and opened it and saw that it was bare, just as he thought. He closed the refrigerator to face Sweets, who was already preparing for the worst and immediately began explaining.

  “Yo, Chubby, we eat out every day, so it’s no need to buy any food. I brought her some Chinese food before I left to go to work yesterday.”

  Not used to being anyone’s fool, Chubby tilted his head to let Sweets know he knew he was lying. Sweets put his head down and decided to remain silent instead of risking being caught in a lie again. Chubby reached in his pocket and pulled out his money roll and removed two twenty-dollar bills and handed them to Sweets.