by D. Gamblez
“What’s the word, Sarge?”Oliver asked, his arms folded across his chest.
I took a deep breath and stilled my nerves. I decided to tell my team what was going on. “This is not to leave this room unless I say it does. Not under any circumstances. Got it?”
Everyone nodded, assuring me that they understood. Then they gave me their full attention, curious as to the seriousness of the expression on my face and the tone of my voice.
“I know now why that triple homicide two months ago seemed strange. Although it screamed ‘Death Dealers!,’ we couldn’t really tie it to them because no tag was left behind to claim the crime as usual, so the case has been cold due to us not being able to find any leads on it. But now that’s changed because of this tape.”
“What do you mean, Sarge?” Vida asked.
“I think I know why it’s been so hard for us to find out who the Death Dealers are, but first I want you to know that any knowledge of this information could put you all, including your loved ones, in possible danger. Maybe even to the point of getting people murdered over it. So I have to ask—”
“You don’t have to ask us anything, Sarge,” Vida stated simply. “Whatever this is, we’re with you all the way. You know, when you first took over this division two years ago after our former Sergeant died, I didn’t know if I could trust you. I mean, the stories of your incompetence were rampant throughout the station. Well, that, plus the rumors that you’d only gotten this job because of your father. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say that you’ve not only dispelled those rumors, but you’ve also earned my trust and everyone else’s trust in this unit. We wouldn’t be here otherwise. So, if there’s something that you believe needs to be handled with extreme discretion, then the people in this room are who you’re looking for.”
“That’s right, Sarge,” Miracle added. “We trust you everyday to lead us, now trust us to follow you.”
That was all the encouragement I needed to hear. I brought my team into the office and let them hear the recording one at a time, and after they all heard it, they exchanged looks with one another, making sure they were all on board with whatever decision they were silently making that excluded me. Then they nodded to each other and looked to me for instruction.
“The guy they call ‘boss’...he sounds like a cop to me,” Oliver said.
“Yeah, that’s what I got from the way he talked,” Miracle said.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to believe a cop is behind this whole thing, but if it is, I know of only one sketchy motherfucker that comes to mind,” Vida added.
“Hensley,” Royce and Shonda voiced in unison.
“Yeah, Hensley,” Vida agreed. “I mean, the way the guy sounded on the tape, the way he talked, how he commanded those other guys... It’s gotta be him, right?”
“I’m not sure who it is, and I don’t want to point fingers just yet, but I definitely believe a cop is behind the Death Dealers, and if so, we have to take these assholes off the streets more now than ever. There’s a tender age girl lying dead in a coffin in somebody’s cheap-ass cemetery, so if one, or more than one, of these guys are cops, and they’re willing to do this kind of shit to kids, then we really have to put an end to them before the public gets wind of it and they lose faith in the entire department. Right now, everybody thinks some pedophile kidnapped and raped and killed that little girl, but if they find out the Death Dealers were behind it, man, I don’t even want to think about the outrage...it’ll bring this city to its knees. I took this job because I wanted to be a beacon of hope for this city, my city, and that hasn’t changed. If anything, it has only grown stronger since then.”
“And that right there is the main reason why I would follow you to hell to arrest the devil himself if you chose to,” Vida said sincerely.
“Appreciate that, Vida,” I responded, fist-bumping her. I was really proud of how supportive my team was being. It felt really good to know they trust me and respect how I operate.
“Sarge, why are you smiling like that Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland?” Vida asked.
“So...we doing this?” I said, ignoring her dig at me. “Or are we gonna let these fuckers take our city to its knees?”
“Let’s take these sonsofbitches down,” Shonda said with a hint of a smile.
“Even if it isn’t Hensley, and I damn sure hope it is because I never really liked that cocky fuck anyhow, I’m on board,” Oliver said.
“I hate dirty cops,” Miracle said with her elusive Boston accent. “Whoever they are, I want them off our streets. And just so ya’ll know, if given the opportunity, I don’t plan on bringing them in. Monsters like that don’t deserve their day in court.”
“Not entirely sure what Miracle is suggesting here, but I’m down for whatever you want to do, Sarge,” JJ said. “They killed that little girl without remorse, then they staged her death to look like a pedophile did it, and I for one can’t abide by that kind of behavior. Whoever they are, dirty cops or not, they have to pay for that innocent girl’s life.”
“Policía sucio,”Royce said in Spanish.
“Fucking right, hermano, they’re dirty cops,” Vida agreed while at the same time translating Royce’s comment for the rest of the team.
“Okay, then,” I said, proud of my team and proud of their faith in me to lead them. “Let’s show these bastards what our city’s made of.”
Audi
Dre and I still had not had sex. We had been together every day for the past three months, but we were no closer than we were on prom night, and I thought that night for sure would be the night I would lose my virginity.
My original plan was to save myself for marriage, but after realizing how Dre and I felt about each other, I knew he was the one that who I was going to spend the rest of my life with. So, sex with him should have been easy is for me. There was just one problem; I was scared. Actually, it was more like I was terrified. I mean, would you not you be if it was your first time? Maybe it’s because deep down, I was afraid that if I gave my virginity to Dre, he would just treat me as one of the other girls who he frequents throughout the week. Yeah, I knew about the other women. I did not like it one bit, but how could I deny a man with a starving libido if I was not willing to feed it?
I had no idea why I was so afraid to have sex with Dre. Every time we got in the mood, I started panicking. I even gave Dre permission to ply me with drink and weed one night to shake off the jitterbugs, but at the end of the night, I still could not go through with it. We had gotten completely naked, farther than we had ever gotten before, and I had even let him slip two fingers inside me, but the moment I felt the tip of his penis knocking at my front door, I locked everything up and left him out in the cold.
Dre was always nice and gentle about the whole thing afterwards, but I could tell he was getting frustrated with me. His reassurances of “it’s all good, ma” and “it’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen” only added to my embarrassment and guilt for not being able to perform sexually. I mean, it is just crazy! I had the man I wanted, but I could not show him that I wanted him.
This shit is for the birds. Hopefully, things will change soon. And hopefully, that change will come tonight.
I was over at Cherish and Raheem’s house. Apparently, she and Raheem had gotten pretty serious in the last three months and Raheem had asked her to move in with him. Cherish’s parents were against it, but since they were both 19, there was nothing that they could have done to prevent it. Cherish was happy, and that was all that mattered to the Gucci Girlz.
My whole crew was there getting ready for the graduation party that Dre decided to throw for us at club Déjà Vu out in Glen Park. The school had planned on throwing us a graduation party two and a half months ago, two weeks after the graduation ceremony, but they had decided to cancel it at the last minute because the Vice Lords and Disciples were in the middle of a turf war after Calvin had been murdered, which left a lot of territory open for drug sales as he w
as no longer alive to supply it.
On top of it all, instead of being concerned about the identity of the Death Dealers−an unknown group of masked men who had been targeting drug dealers and gang leaders for the past six months−all of the so-called ‘thugs’ and ‘gangstas’ of the neighborhood were too busy being greedy and trying to snatch up any and all available territory that they could get their hands on, even if that meant doing it by force.
* * *
To me, something about the whole thing did not sit right as Calvin had not even been into selling drugs until a few months ago, so for the Death Dealers to come in and hit his spot like they did was not only a shock, it was suspicious as hell. He was barely on the map for selling and buying dope, so who could have known what he was up to, and who could have informed the Death Dealers about it? More importantly, no one knew who the Death Dealers were, and no one dared try finding out from fear that they would be targeted next, and quite possibly their families as well.
According to the news and newspapers, the Death Dealers had done several robberies so far and had murdered at least seven people while, four of them heavy hitters, and everyone was too scared of them to do anything about it. Even the police could not find out who they were, and that is why some people suspected the Death Dealers to be either a secret group of members from rival gangs, working together to manipulate the drug game, or they were cops.
Hell, I am not sure as to the secret group of rival gang members theory, but it definitely made sense to me if the Death Dealers turned out to be cops. I mean, what better way to get rid of drug dealers and gangbangers than to rid the streets of them permanently? Knowing that jail or prison is the biggest risk of selling drugs can deter a lot of people, but knowing that you could be visited upon by the Death Dealers because of it? Yeah, that is way more of an effective tool for deterrence than jail or prison.
“Girl, get off that damn phone and get down here and help me with this dye,” Cherish yelled to me from one of three bathrooms in her five-bedroom, tri-level home. They had a furnished attic and furnished basement, which made it one of the best houses in the Aetna neighborhood.
“Hold on a sec, girl. I was just checking my messages,” I yelled back to her from the dining room as I headed towards the steps that led to the basement. “I don’t even know why your ass is trying to put that fake-ass shit on your head, anyway. I mean, you do know that only white girls do that shit, right?”
“Bitch, just get your ass down here and help me. Damn! I can’t see shit in this tiny-ass mirror,” Cherish complained.
“Why can’t you get Makita or Coco to help you?” I asked her as I descended the last step and planted my bare feet on the plush, white carpet. With the entire house nearly carpeted, even the stairs, Cherish forbade any footwear in the house past the foyer.
“Those two freaky bitches in the backroom giving each other Brazilian bikini waxes or some shit,” she flicked her hand, motioning in the direction of the closed door at the back past laundry room.”They’re probably gonna be in there for a while, as big as those thighs are.”
“Girl, you can be a pain in the ass sometimes. You know that, right?”I asked her as I entered the small bathroom that only had a toilet and a small mirror that looked similar to the mirrors they used in gas station restrooms. It even had the metal trim around it, semi-rusted and fastened to the wall right above the sink.
After grabbing one of the five bottles of red dye Cherish was using to dye her hair, I took one look at her and burst into laughter. I didn’t want to make Cherish feel embarrassed, but when I saw the mess that she had created on her head, only one thought came to mind.
“Why are you trying to look like that whiny-ass white girl from I Love Lucy. What’s her name? Lucille Ball, ain’t it? Yeah, that’s who you look like right now.”
“Fuck you!” Cherish said, trying to donkey-kick me from where she was bent over in the small sink. “Help me rinse this crap back out of my hair. I’ll do this shit another time. I’m just tired of the same old curly, black and orange hair. So many copycat bitches out here jacking my style, I don’t even look original anymore. I look like a fucking Creole knock-off or something.”
“Come on, girl. Let’s go over to the sink in the laundry room so we don’t make too much of a mess,” I suggested.
“Why ya’ll bitches taking so long?”Makita said as she and her twin Coco emerged from the back room. They were both walking like they had to pee really bad. “Ya’ll know Devonte and ‘em gonna be here in a couple minutes.”
“Damn, this shit hurt like a bitch!” Coco whined, sliding her hand up and down her inner-thighs. “I ain’t doing that shit no more. Waxing is strictly a white-girl thang. Cherish, let me borrow yo’ hoop earrings tonight. I’ll lend you my gold bracelet, you know, the one that go with yo’ black dress? That’s what you wearing tonight, ain’t it?”
“Naw, I’m wearing the red Gucci dress Raheem bought me last week, but you can still borrow my hoops, though,” Cherish said, her voice echoing inside the stainless-steel sink in the laundry room as I helped her rinse the dye out of her hair.”Just make sure your ass gives them back to me this time.”
“Don’t worry, bitch. It’s all Gucci,” Coco said as she walked up behind Cherish and double-slapped her on the ass. Cherish’s booty jiggled in her white yoga pants. “Damn, baby girl! That booty gettin’ big. Raheem must be tapping that ass real good, huh?”
“Bitch, don’t be touching my motherfucking ass. I’m not into that gay-ass shit you and your sister be on,” Cherish snapped.
It was harsh. Harsher than I felt was necessary.
Coco looked at me with a wide-eyed expression, obviously not knowing what she had done wrong. She and Makita were always a little too touchy-feely for my taste, but I knew they were harmless. They had shared guys and girls in the past, sometimes at the same time, but they would never bring disrespect to the Gucci Girlz group. Not unless it was welcomed. That’s why when Cherish reacted the way she did, I suspected something had transpired between her and the twins at one point in time, and Cherish felt ashamed by it.
Either that or nothing had happened, but deep down Cherish wanted it to. Ever since she gave up her virginity to Raheem, she had been buying up sex tapes and sex toys and all type of extra-freaky bedroom stuff.
Coco and Makita both hurried upstairs to get dressed while I stayed with Cherish and blow dried her hair as best I could.
“Why’d you yell at her like that?”I asked.
Her had settled back into the black and orange curly-fro shape that was usually her normal look.
“Who? Coco? Tsk, girl I’m not even thinking about that shit right now. Trying to figure out why the hell these niggas taking so long.”
“You know she just be playing with you, right?” I continued, not letting go of the issue so easily.
“Hmm? Girl, she’ll be all right,” Cherish said dismissively, but I could tell from the sound of her voice that she felt bad about the way she reacted. Still, I decided to leave it alone for now. Cherish would bring it up again later. She wasn’t one to go too long without making sure that things were all well and good when it came to the Gucci Girlz.
“If you say so,” I said. “Anyway, why’d ya’ll put carpet in the basement? You do know if it rains too hard and floods outside, it’ll flood down here too, right?”
“You know I don’t care about that shit, Audi. Raheem had this damn carpet put down here. Said he likes it like this. His ass is just trying to be ghetto-fabulous and shit, you ask me. You know them niggas out here selling drugs now, right?”
Cherish had changed the subject so suddenly that I nearly missed what she had said. “What? Are you for real?” I said, surprised. Of course I didn’t know the Tru Aetna Boyz were selling drugs I mean, I suspected that’s what they were doing but Dre asked me not to ask him anything about how he made his money, so I ’didn't ask. Simple as that. I stand by my man. Even if I’m not giving him sex yet, I’m going to still be respec
tful of his privacy. Yeah, it’s kind of a blind thing to do, but to each their own, I guess.
“Hell yeah, girl,” Cherish nodded. “That’s how Raheem got us this house. And I know that’s how he was able to buy me that black-on-red ‘01Mustang convertible. I told his ass that I was too scared to drive that damn thing−it’s too fast! That’s why I let that shit sit in the garage, girl. Plus, these thirsty-ass niggas be out here jacking motherfuckers and shit. You know what I’m talking about, girl.”
“Mm-hmm. You know I know, girl.”
“You know? Shit, and I’m not about to get shot over no damn car. I don’t care how much that motherfucker costs, this bitch is going to be bullet-free and carless when it’s all said and done. Well, not unless it’s a Beamer or a Porsche or something like that. Nigga is just gonna have to straight pop a bitch for that shit.”
“You ain’t never lying, girl,” I chuckled as I gave her some dab.
“So...” Cherish said, changing the subject, and I knew what she was changing it to. “When are you and Dre going to move in together? You still haven’t given him any yet?”
I did not attempt to answer as I was too embarrassed to even try.
“Girl, you have to get that shit on lock. You know he’s out here fucking these rat-faced bitches, don’t you? Especially them ugly-ass skanks around the corner, he even putting his dick in them hoes. And he’s still fucking Jinx. Shit, that nigga isn’t going over there every other day to get a manicure or pedicure, so you tell me what it is, boo?”
“I’m not worried about all that rumor bullshit, Cherish,” I lied. Truth was, I was devastated. I mean, I knew Dre was getting his rocks off somewhere, especially since he was not getting intimate with me, but I did not know the whole neighborhood knew about it. Hell, I was probably the laughing stock of G.I. right now.
“All that rumor bullshit, huh? Yeah, okay. You can fake that shit with ‘Kita and Coco, but you are not fooling me. No way you’re going to convince me that you’re okay with your nigga fucking every bitch but you. Shit, if Raheem was doing that shit to me, I’d have castrated his black ass. And that nigga know it, too. Shit, he better know it.”