by Tracy Brown
Camille sat on the edge of the bed. “This is it, Misa. This is where it all comes falling down.”
* * *
Born woke up early to nurses prodding him with needles, checking his blood pressure, and sticking a thermometer in his mouth. The doctor came in and explained that Born would need to remain in the hospital for at least another day or so for observation. He had a fractured clavicle, a few cracked ribs, and a concussion. He would need to be in a sling for a couple of weeks. But overall he was lucky to be alive. He dozed off for awhile after the doctor’s visit, and was awakened not long after by some detectives who wanted to ask him a few questions. Their tone was relaxed, concerned.
“Do you have any enemies that might want to see you hurt? You messing around with anyone’s girl, that kinda thing?”
Born told them that he had no enemies. It was true as far as he knew. Sure, in a community as small as Staten Island, there were characters that he chose not to associate with. But none of them would have a reason to go so far as to try and kill him. It bothered Born that he couldn’t figure out who it might be. The reality was that someone had wanted to take his life. Whether he knew who it was or not, somebody out there was gunning for him.
He couldn’t fall back asleep after they left. He lay in his bed doing his own mental detective work. Just after seven o’clock in the morning, Tremaine came in. He had to cozy up to one of the nurses on duty in order to get in before visiting hours began.
“I slept outside in the visitor’s lounge near the elevator,” he told Born. “That way, anybody who came up to this floor had to go past me.”
Born appreciated that his boys were on high alert.
“I woke up to this text,” Tremaine continued, handing Born his cell phone. He reached and turned on the TV at the foot of Born’s bed. Flipping through the channels, he stopped on Eyewitness News.
Born read the text. “FEDS!” It was from Biggs, another associate of theirs who acted as the crew’s muscle.
“Now I can’t get in touch with nobody,” Tremaine said.
A news bulletin stole their attention.
“Twenty-two people were arrested in a narcotics bust on Staten Island and in Brooklyn this morning. Prosecutors allege that the suspects are part of a drug-and-gun trafficking ring that has terrorized New York City for decades. Those arrested include an attorney from the Brooklyn DA’s office. Grant Keys was among those targeted in a predawn raid coordinated in both boroughs.”
Born and Tremaine looked on in wide-eyed amazement as video rolled of Frankie being led out of his house in handcuffs. The reporter continued.
“Frank Bingham was arrested after selling Oxycodone on three separate occasions to an undercover NYPD officer, police said. He was identified as one of two dozen loosely affiliated drug dealers on Staten Island and throughout Brooklyn.
Bingham is the brother of Steven Bingham, the shooting victim in the brutal 2008 murder case that rocked the city. He will be arraigned this morning in Staten Island Criminal Court. Police arrested twenty-one other people in the operation and seized drugs from twelve different locations, including 475 Oxycodone pills, 200 Vicodin pills, 300 Xanax pills, 200 grams of cocaine, 201 glassines of heroin, and sixteen ounces of marijuana. They also seized $17,000 in cash and two loaded 380-caliber handguns from one defendant.
The suspects range in age from nineteen to forty-four and were arrested on charges including cocaine distribution, possession and criminal sale of controlled substances, burglaries, conspiracy, and weapons possession.
We’ll have more on this story after today’s arraignment.”
Born was frozen. This was not good. Tremaine’s cell phone rang. He saw DJ’s phone number, and answered it quickly.
“Tell Uncle Born, the feds got ’em,” DJ said, breathlessly.
“Got who?”
“Uncle Patrick, Uncle Christian, and their whole crew.” DJ sounded shaken. “My grandmother just called, said they ran up in her house and Uncle Christian’s house this morning.”
Tremaine relayed the news to Born.
Born blew out a deep breath. “Damn! Give me the phone.”
“Uncle Born, I’m going to court with Grandma this morning,” DJ said. “I’ll come up there afterward.”
“No, you’re not,” Born said, adamantly. “You’re not just some dude from around the way no more, DJ. You’re a celebrity. You’re not gonna sit up in some courtroom watching your uncles battle a drug case. Get out of here with that. You sit your ass at home, and we’ll get somebody else to go to court and let us know what happens.”
DJ reluctantly agreed, and they hung up. Born called Jada next. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t answer. He was used to that these days. He handed the phone back to Tremaine.
“Shit!” Born said. He felt helpless. “It sounds like they got everybody.” He was grateful that he had gotten out of the drug game a long time ago. Still, many of the people he cared about were still living that lifestyle, and he worried for them. “Call Zion,” he suggested.
Tremaine shook his head. “I been calling him since I got Biggs’ text. No answer.”
Born thought about it. “You should probably go. You never know who might be looking for you.”
Tremaine had been thinking the same thing. “But, I can’t leave you open here by yourself.”
“I’m here,” Anisa said, walking into the room. “I saw the news this morning, and I came right over after I took Ethan to Miss Ingrid’s house. She’ll bring him up here with her when she comes this afternoon.”
Born relaxed a little when he saw Anisa. She had an uncanny knack for showing up right on time lately. “Thank you,” he said.
“Don’t thank me yet. The nurse acts like she wants to kick me out.” Anisa hid her bag behind the curtain, and positioned herself where she couldn’t be seen from the hallway.
“We’ll worry about her later,” Born said. He was grateful for her company. He thought about Jada and assumed that she was too busy with Sheldon to answer her phone. He forced his thoughts away from her, and said good-bye to Tremaine as he prepared to go on the run. “Be careful out there,” Born said. “Keep in touch with somebody. Let us know you’re alright.”
Tremaine gave Born a long handshake, and assured him that he would watch his back. Then he left. Anisa touched Born’s hand, caressed it.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked, rhetorically.
Born shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
* * *
Gillian’s phone started ringing just as the sun began to rise. The arrests had come unexpectedly in a well-orchestrated predawn raid. Simultaneously, various members of her crew had been taken into custody. Zion. Baron. Reuben. The Douglas brothers. Frankie. Biggs. Even Grant Keys, and that was a game changer. Grant was an insider. His arrest meant that the government had established their best case yet against the Nobles crime family.
Gillian called her attorney, showered, dressed, and sipped peppermint tea as she waited for the authorities to come for her. But no one came. As the time neared when court would open and the arraignments would begin, Gillian sat anxiously by her phone, waiting for word from her people.
* * *
Jada was on her way out the door with Sheldon in tow when she got the call. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and answered her cell phone, hurriedly.
“Hello?”
She heard Marisol crying, and instantly froze. Sheldon sensed the tension in her body, and wondered what was wrong. Even he could hear Marisol crying through the receiver. “She’s dead! Jada! Mija … she’s gone. Sunny is dead.”
Jada fell to the floor.
* * *
The courtroom was packed. For Misa, this was eerily familiar. She had been the defendant in a high-profile murder case just a couple of years ago. Her family had rallied around her, attending her trial each day. She hated to think of those days. This time, although she wasn’t the defendant, she held tightly to her sister’s hand as the arraignment
began.
Camille was trembling. Her mother was back at home, babysitting Bria and Shane. Before her daughters had left for court that morning, Lily gathered them together. “Listen, don’t go in there trying to be heroes. Frankie and Baron are grown men. When you were in trouble, where were they? Go, show your support. But don’t put that ‘S’ on your chest today, okay, Superwomen?”
Camille thought about that now. She remembered all the times that Frankie had abandoned her. Part of her thought of an eye for an eye. The other part opted to turn the other cheek. She looked around the room and saw a lot of familiar faces. Olivia walked in looking fabulous and stressed at the same time. She had been called to pick up her daughter after Zion was taken into police custody. Olivia had picked up Adiva from the police station, brought her to her grandmother’s house, and hurried to court to see about Zion. Her brother Lamin followed close behind. Lamin was thanking his lucky stars that he hadn’t been involved in any illegal activities for many years. Still, having endured his own trial in connection with his cousin’s murder, he was uncomfortable being in the courtroom today as well. Lamin and Zion had started out in the game together. When Lamin went legit, he begged Zion to do the same. But Zion was hardheaded. Lamin shook his head, as he thought about what that stubborn streak might cost his friend. Assorted extended family members of some of the other defendants filed in behind him.
“It’s like some kind of sad reunion,” Misa whispered to Camille.
Camille nodded. “Yeah. Like a funeral.”
The defendants began to enter the courtroom. The first few cases had nothing to do with them. But then Frankie led the parade into the courtroom. He was followed by a few other crew members from Staten Island. One by one the DA read the charges against them. Each of them had been charged with crimes involving drugs, guns, and money laundering. For each of them, bail was set at half a million dollars.
In courtrooms in Brooklyn and New Jersey, Baron, Grant, Reuben, and the Douglas brothers were also arraigned on similar charges. Grant was additionally charged with racketeering, obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance, and conspiracy. Baron, Dorian’s brothers, and Reuben were granted half a million dollars bail. Grant Keys’ bail was set at a million dollars.
The news funneled into Staten Island Criminal Court via covert text messages and whispered conversations. One by one, the crew was going down.
The mood was grim when Ava was led in shortly after ten a.m. She looked so ridiculous and out of place in this setting, seeming frail as she stood next to her towering attorney. She wore a pair of Zion’s sweatpants, one of his T-shirts, sweat socks, and some prison issued Croc-style shoes. Although she felt foolish in this outfit, she had decided that going to jail in the alternative—a Phillip Lim suit and Jimmy Choos—would have been far worse. She had arrived at Zion’s house still in her work clothes. Their passionate evening had been interrupted by the raid. The officers at the scene had made themselves quite clear. They meant business, and had terrorized Ava thoroughly. They had pummeled her with questions all night long. This was one side of the judicial system that she had never seen up close and personal before.
Jada rushed in the door, looking a teary-eyed mess just as the DA set forth his case. “Your Honor, Ava Ford is the lady friend of Zion Williams, who is the kingpin in this operation. She was arrested in Mr. Williams’s home during this morning’s raid. She’s an attorney, who we believe has acted in concert with Mr. Williams and his operation.”
Ava’s attorney interjected, explaining that Ava was in no way complicit in any illegal activities. In fact, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with a guy who she was just getting to know.
As the attorneys volleyed back and forth, Olivia sat boiling in the middle of the courtroom. Many of those present turned to look at her. They wondered if Olivia had known that Zion was sleeping with someone else. She did her best to keep her game face on. She noticed that Ava was wearing Zion’s clothes, and quickly connected the dots. Olivia’s blood boiled. Sensing this, Lamin reached over and discreetly squeezed her hand. She squeezed it back hard. She wanted to explode.
Jada, too, was confused. She thought she must be hearing wrong from where she stood way in the back of the courtroom. Ava had made no mention of being involved with Zion. She wondered what else she didn’t know.
Finally, the judge set Ava’s bail at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. She was led away, and Jada prepared to meet the attorney outside. But then Zion was led into the courtroom. And everybody froze.
As incredibly handsome as he normally was, Zion now looked horrendous. An audible gasp rose from the courtroom. Zion had been beaten badly. His face was swollen and bruised, his hairline creased with dried blood. He walked slowly and hunched over, as if he was sore. Olivia cried out, and so did several onlookers. It was clear that he had suffered an intense beat down.
“What the hell did you do to him?” Olivia called out. His betrayal was momentarily forgotten.
The DA spoke over the uproar. “Your Honor, Mr. Williams has been resisting our officers’ efforts to restrain him. He charged one of our officers last night and had to be physically restrained.”
“That’s not right!” someone yelled. A chorus of protests rose from the courtroom. Zion seemed dazed as he stood there.
The judge banged her gavel in an attempt to get her courtroom in order. But it was futile. The uproar over Zion’s appearance was so great that she had to empty the courtroom. Olivia was inconsolable. Lamin ushered her out first. Once all spectators had been removed, Zion’s case was set forth, and he was ordered held without bail. The judge ordered that Zion be taken to the hospital immediately.
In the lobby, families huddled with attorneys to discuss strategies. Jada stood alone, still reeling from the news of Sunny’s death. She had gone to Brooklyn as soon as she was able to compose herself enough to drive. She had spent the morning at the home of Sunny’s parents, consoling Mercedes and letting the realization sink in that Sunny was gone for good. Sunny’s body had been removed before Jada got there. But there was a palpable misery that hung over the home in Sunny’s absence. So much was happening at once. Jada felt like she had been sucked into a horrific whirlwind and everything was being turned upside down.
She was so overcome with grief that she almost hadn’t made it to bail her sister out of jail. At the last minute, she had allowed Marisol to convince her to go to court and see about Ava. Simultaneously, Ronnie was being sent to the Brooklyn courthouse to bail out Reuben, if possible. Sheldon was back at Marisol’s with Mercedes and the rest of Sunny’s family, everyone trying to make sense of what had taken place. Sunny was gone. No one could believe it.
Jada felt a special sadness. Sunny had been her sister. She had saved her life. Together, they had taken on the world. Now they would never get to talk again. Never share a laugh. They had kept each other’s secrets, and planned on being old ladies together. An overdose had stolen those dreams. Like a candle in the wind, Sunny was gone. Jada stood in the corner fighting tears, praying that she could bail Ava out quickly. She needed time to process the loss of her friend.
Finally, Ava’s attorney approached, and Jada agreed to put up her home as collateral for her sister’s bail. As they walked off to handle the paperwork, Olivia approached them. Jada asked the attorney to go ahead and she would catch up with him in a moment.
She turned to face Olivia.
“So how long did you know about your sister and Zion?” Olivia demanded.
“I had no idea that anything was going on between them,” Jada said. “I promise you, Olivia.”
Olivia stared at Jada, deciding whether to believe her or not. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked. She could tell that Jada was visibly distraught, and it appeared to be more serious than just Ava’s arrest. Jada’s face was splotchy, and her nose was red. Her eyes were puffy, and she kept dabbing at them.
“Olivia … Sunny died this morning.”
Olivia gas
ped, clutching her hands over her mouth. “What?”
“She … she’s dead.” Jada wanted to crumble, but kept her back pressed firmly against the wall for support.
Olivia closed her eyes, devastated. “Oh my God, Jada.” Olivia stared at her for a few silent moments. “I’m so sorry.” Olivia wiped the tears that fell from her own eyes. She and Sunny had been friends for a very long time. Olivia had weathered many storms with Sunny, and hearing this was incredibly sad news. She knew how close Sunny and Jada were. So she instinctively pulled Jada into a warm embrace. They hugged and cried softly in the corner of the courthouse lobby. Olivia had no beef with Jada. Maybe she hadn’t known about Ava’s affair with Zion. And even if Jada had been aware of what was going on, Ava and Zion were adults, responsible for their own actions. Still, Olivia was pissed. They pulled themselves together and stood for several silent moments. “Listen,” Olivia said at last. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with arrangements or anything.” She walked away, her shoulders hunched in sorrow.
Jada watched Olivia walk off, a then she went to meet the lawyer to bail out her sister. The process was long and arduous. After about two hours, Jada was told that her sister was being released and would be brought down to the lobby. By then, the courthouse had emptied out considerably. Jada took the opportunity to use the ladies’ room before meeting her sister. She relieved herself and washed her hands. And just as she stepped out of the bathroom, a shriek was heard across the lobby, followed by the sound of scuffling feet and cries of “Stop!” “Oh my goodness!” and “Help!” Police ran toward the direction of the melee, as Jada strained to see what was happening. By the time she got a clear view, it was too late.
Olivia had reappeared, although Lamin was nowhere in sight. She had spotted Ava walking alongside her attorney after being bailed out. Without uttering a word, Olivia pounced on Ava, punching her in the face repeatedly, tearing at her hair, scratching at her face and throat, kicking her and clawing wildly. It took three police officers to pry Olivia off of Ava.