The Take Down

by Mark Anthony

  As another reporter was going to ask a question, Horse cut him off and got to the real reason that he had called the press conference.

  “And speaking of family,” Horse proudly said. “I want to introduce everyone to the newest member of the Gun Clap family. He’s not gonna be the next big thing in rap music, but he’s gonna be the next big thing in all of music! Period! He’s standing right next to me and he hails from Howard Beach, Queens … Everybody … The newest edition to Gun Clap Records … My man, White Lines!”

  At that point, White Lines and Horse embraced as Angela—who looked as beautiful as a movie star—beamed in the background. Horse then made reference to the fact that he was a uniter and not a divider and he spoke about this racist incident that had happened in Howard Beach more than fifteen years ago when a black man had been beaten and chased to his death by a mob of bat-wielding white men.

  “Who would have thought that I would be able to walk through the streets of Howard Beach and get the kind of love that I got yesterday when I spent the day with White Lines in his ’hood. I think after that awful incident some fifteen years ago, yesterday marked a day where the city of New York had come full circle and we could finally put that ugly incident behind us, unite, make hit records together, and just have fun and enjoy life. That’s why I love all of ya’ll. I love this country in spite of the accusations and all the negativity that goes with this rap game … This is what it’s all about,” Horse said as he pointed to White Lines. “It’s about taking music that was created in the ghetto, and using that to bridge a gap in communities and unite people in ways in which we couldn’t have dreamed of in the past.”

  I smiled as I listened to Horse speak. I couldn’t believe how he could just twist things that easily and come across so convincingly. The press conference totally shifted from Chris Mims and focused on White Lines. Horse bragged about how on a half-hour’s notice White Lines went into the studio and laid down a rhyme that was so hot that it would soon be released on a song that he would do with Ashante who was on the Murder Inc. record label. He also stated that White Lines would have his own single out within the next six months and that his album would be completed within nine months.

  After Horse introduced Angela Calvino as the person who had brought White Lines to his attention, the reporters were in absolute shock. They had thought that she looked similar to the Mafia don’s daughter and now it had been confirmed. As the press conference ended, the media swarmed Angela and asked her a million and one questions. Like her flamboyant Mafia don father, she seemed as if she was born for the spotlight and she relished the moment.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Like just about everyone else, I had heard of Sylvia’s Restaurant but I had never eaten there. But here I was on a warm summer night sitting down and preparing to eat at the world-famous Harlem restaurant.

  Angela was really trying to engross herself in everything that was black and everything that was hip-hop and we had come to the restaurant based on her urging. When I say we, I am referring to she and I, along with two black models from my agency, Trina and Melissa.

  As we sat in the packed restaurant I was certain that Angela didn’t feel too self-conscious because there were other white people that seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. But apparently Angela didn’t feel as secure as I thought she did as she stated, “You know, I have to say that I feel so white right now…”

  Everyone laughed and made light of the situation.

  “Girl don’t trip about being white. This is Harlem, and just about anything goes in Harlem. I mean Harlem definitely ain’t trippin’ over white people ’cause white people are moving to Harlem by the droves. Matter of fact Bill Clinton has his office here!” Trina stated in an effort to make Angela feel more relaxed. “Plus you’re Italian, which is as close to black as they come.”

  Everyone at the table laughed.

  “Okay so what should I order?” Angela asked. Melissa quickly suggested that Angela get smothered chicken, collard greens, cornbread, and black-eyed peas.

  After the waiter took everyone’s order the four of us began to talk and Angela asked Trina and Melissa if they knew of anybody who was looking to get signed to a record deal.

  “Do I know anybody?” Melissa sarcastically asked. “Angela, everyday I get a million and one guys coming up to me because they recognize me from the music videos and after hitting on me and undressing me with their eyes, they’re always asking me how can they get put on and telling me about their demo tape and can I pass it along to this person or that person.”

  “Really?” Angela asked.

  “She ain’t lying, we both get it,” Trina added for good measure.

  Before long our food had arrived at the table and after we got ourselves situated we continued talking and eating our food at the same time. Angela commented on how good the food tasted and she admitted that she had never eaten black-eyed peas before but that they tasted so good.

  “Ummmhhh, this is so good!” Angela exclaimed. “This is what cornbread taste like? It tastes more like cake! I never knew it was so good. I always thought it was dry and hard, similar to stale bread or something.”

  We all laughed.

  In addition to the food we had also all ordered apple martinis. As I sipped from my martini, Melissa spoke up. What she said hit me in a way in which a lightbulb goes off in your head and you just want to kiss and thank a person for bringing up what they brought up. Her words were the missing link to my hustle, she provided the information that I was looking for but didn’t know exactly where I was gonna find it or how I was gonna find it.

  Melissa spoke and said, “Angela, I know that you’re really feeling good about this rapper that you helped get signed but—”

  Cutting her off Angela stated, “Feeling good is putting it lightly. It feels better than the best sex you could ever have! I mean he got a million-dollar advance and I made ten percent of that. One hundred thousand dollars and I barely did shit! It’s fucking unreal!”

  “But Angela, I’ll tell you this like I tell all of the people that are asking me to pass along their demos. The key to this music game is ownership. As a manager you can make good money and I can get you a thousand demo tapes and introduce you to a thousand people that wanna be rappers, but I’ll be honest with you, what you should do is get your own record label so that you start owning the music that your artists are making,” Melissa stated as we all continued to eat.

  Apparently Melissa and Trina had discussed this before because Trina chimed right in, “Yeah, when people see us in these music videos they stereotype us as being chicken-heads, whores, and sluts but the reality is we have brains and we speak to the people behind the scenes, the real shot callers. And what Melissa is saying is that yeah, they gave your artist a million dollars and if the album goes platinum guess how much the record company will be making off those sales in comparison to the artist? Angela, what you need to do is get your weight up and renegotiate that deal, try to get your artist back and then start your label and let them sign your company to a distribution deal. That way you’ll have control and ownership of your own label and then you can call the shots instead of controlling the crumbs.”

  Angela thought about what was being said and then she stated that she really didn’t know nothing about running a record company.

  “Well did you ever meet Supreme?” Melissa asked rhetorically. “That nigga don’t know shit about owning a record company but he owns Gun Clap Records!”

  I tried to act surprised as Angela didn’t yet know or understand what Melissa was talking about. “I thought that was Horse’s company,” Angela stated with a curious look on her face as she put some black-eyed peas into her mouth.

  “No. See that’s just a front. Have you ever seen a store in the ’hood where it looks like a candy store or a grocery store because it has products in the window of the store but when you go inside you realize that all of the potato chips are stale and the milk is sour and the shelves ha
ven’t been restocked in weeks? That’s because the store is just a front for selling drugs. It works the same in the music business. Supreme came home from after doing like ten years in the joint, and the new hustle was the record business and Supreme wanted in on it but he didn’t have the money. But what he did have was a connection to these mob soldiers who were supplying him with drugs and they had a bunch of dirty money that they wanted to wash, so Supreme came up with a way that he could wash the money for them. His plan, which he carried out, was to create a record company and pass the mob money through that record company and he got his record industry boy, Horse, to run the show and make true hit records so that everything would really look legit on the surface. He felt that if they made enough hit records and kept a low profile that nobody would even question where the start-up money for the record label came from. So behind the scenes it is and has always been Supreme who is really calling the shots.” After Melissa had finished breaking things down, she licked the barbecue sauce from her French manicured fingers.

  Angela caught on quickly, and I’m sure that she did simply because of her family’s criminal background, but I wanted to make sure that I fully understood where Melissa was coming from.

  “Melissa, the only place that you’re losing me is with the dirty money thing. What I mean is that if Angela would be basically negotiating her own label deal, are you saying that Supreme or somebody would front her some of their drug money so that they could launder it?” I asked.

  Melissa sucked the meat off of one of the ribs and after sucking on the bone she spoke up. “No that’s not what I’m saying. What I mean is this: Angela, if you can come up with like two to three million dollars then you could easily get your own label going and get a distribution deal. But the problem is most people don’t have that kind of money. Supreme didn’t even have that kind of money when he first came home from the joint. He was just getting back into the drug game and trying to build his empire back to that multimillion-dollar point, so he kind of got lucky that the mob trusted him to let him launder their money. He was also lucky that he had Horse who had the music smarts and talents to make hit records. So what he and Horse were able to do was, they approached some execs at Def Jam, who shall remain nameless, and they had the execs legally put up the money to launch Gun Clap Records. So money flowed out of Def Jam’s bank account and into Gun Clap Records’ bank account and on paper it all looks good and legit especially with Def Jam being partners with Gun Clap, it was like one partner gave money to the other partner. But under the table Supreme simply slid the three million dollars of mob cash back to the Def Jam execs and the Def Jam execs simply funneled the cash back into their accounts little by little. You follow?” Melissa asked.

  We all nodded our heads and I could tell that Angela’s wheels were turning big time. And after Angela confirmed that she was gonna bring the whole record label thing to Horse to see what he had to say about it, I could tell that this was it. I knew that now I had the information to rope Paulie Calvino into the mix. And the reason that I was so certain about it was because when the Mafia finds out about a dollar that can be made they react to it in the manner in which sharks react to blood. The Mafia and hip-hop would soon be married and I would be the one officiating at the wedding ceremony.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  My fiancé Tony had been threatening to fly into New York and see me. I was adamant and persistent in telling him that he would be putting me in a dangerous situation if I were to see him. Fortunately for me I had the built-in excuse of being able to tell him that because of the sensitivity of the investigation I could not fully divulge all of the details of what I had been doing and been through.

  “I don’t even know what the hell your goddamn name is anymore!” my fiancé blurted out.

  That was just the type of talk that I didn’t need and I knew exactly where this phone conversation was going.

  “Jessica, Jessie, Jeshua, Jay, J-Lo, whatever you fucking call yourself. Jesus Christ! I need for you to explain to me what in the hell kind of engagement is this that we’re supposed to be having? You don’t call me, you don’t call your parents, and when I do speak to you everything is about the investigation! Well what about the wedding plans that we have? See, I knew it from the beginning that this whole undercover operation was gonna be no good for us. I knew it but you wouldn’t listen to me!”

  “Are you done?” I sarcastically asked before proceeding. “Look, I have enough pressure on me as it is, I got people who would blow my brains out in two seconds if they knew who I really was and all you can do is call me and rant and rave on the phone. You are so fucking selfish! You’d think that maybe once I could get some support from you. Just once!”

  My fiancé went on and on about how he thought that maybe we should just break off the engagement. And I knew that he had said that as sort of like a scare tactic. But the truth of the matter was I really could have cared less. The fact was I wasn’t yet married and there was no reason for me to act like I was. After he’d tried to use the scare tactic on me I should have ripped into him and told him that if his dick wasn’t so small and if he was handing out multiple orgasms like Supreme was then maybe I would have some real reason to wanna rush back home and get married.

  I didn’t dare say that because I knew that it would’ve crushed him. I really did think he was being way too selfish and childish about the whole thing though. What was weird is that he thought that trying to run a guilt trip on me for not staying in steady contact with my family was a good move on his part. But that just showed how much he didn’t know about me. I had never told him about the incest and sexual abuse that my father put me through and which my mother turned a blind eye to. Had he known that he would have known that even my immediate family was not the biggest of my concerns. I had no problem detaching myself from family, friends, and situations and becoming a new person. Had he known that, he would have known that is why I was able to be so effective as Special Agent Jessica Jackson.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  About a week had passed since Angela and I had eaten at Sylvia’s Restaurant and I hadn’t spoken to her since that time. But I made it a point to call her and tell her to meet me at the day spa and that after getting our massages and nails done that I would treat her to lunch. My supervisor was really pressing me to get some more solid information so that he could continue to justify keeping the investigation going. I knew that I had to start being direct with Angela but I also knew that I had to gain her trust.

  After we left the hair salon, we found ourselves headed out to the Cheesecake Factory in Long Island which was located near Roosevelt Field Shopping Center. The whole ride there we basically spoke about nothing as I tried to seek the right opportunity to get information out of her. After we reached the parking lot of the Cheesecake Factory and got out I asked Angela a question.

  “Angela, don’t take this the wrong way and I hope that I’m not overstepping my bounds by asking you this but have you ever been with a black guy?”

  There was silence. Angela looked both ways as she walked to make sure that she didn’t get hit by any of the passing cars. I didn’t know how to read her facial expressions. But thank God that as she tried to look like a fabulous blond-haired diva she did crack a bit of a smile.

  “Why do you ask?” she nonchalantly replied.

  “I was just curious.”

  There was silence as we entered the restaurant and told the hostess that we needed a table for two. After we were seated I spoke again, “Okay, let me be straight with you. The thing is this, I run this company and I’m constantly busy and all of that and I’m always around people and going out to parties but the truth is that I really don’t have anybody that I’m really close with, someone who I can just call and talk to about anything. And really that’s because I feel like I can’t trust anybody, especially not women. I always think women want to get close to me so that they can accomplish their own agenda. But with you it’s different. You’re real, you’re yo
ur own person and you’re not trying to advance no agenda. You—”

  Angela cut me off and she started laughing. “Jessica please! Cut the bullshit! What is your point?”

  I laughed because I guess that I was overdoing it with the praises.

  “So why did you ask me if I’d ever been with a black guy?” Angela inquired for a second time.

  “Okay, this is just between me and you but I gave Supreme some,” I said as I looked around like I didn’t want anyone to hear.

  “Some what?” Angela asked as she sipped from her glass of water.

  I just looked at her as if to say, come on now, you know what I’m talking about.

  “Well, how was it?” Angela asked. I went on to explain that it was the best sex that I’d ever had and that I wanted some more. Then out of nowhere Angela almost spit out her water as she started laughing.

  “What the hell is so funny?” I asked.

  “Well, Horse had called me and was asking me what was up with you and I thought that he was just playing with me. But he was like, you wanted Supreme to act like he was raping you and you wanted him to choke you while he fucked you or something sick like that! What was that about?” Angela asked.

  At that point I wanted to melt in my seat because I had no idea that Supreme had kissed and told.

  “Can we order now?” I playfully said, blatantly trying to change the subject.

  “Yeah, let’s look at this menu,” Angela replied with a smile.

  “Well, Angela if you need me to speak to Supreme about the whole label deal situation, just let me know. I guess the whole world knows now but I am kinda close to him.”

  As Angela looked at the menu she didn’t look in my face as she spoke. “To answer your question, yes I have been with a black guy before.”

  I looked at Angela and a big smile came across her face. “What?” I asked.