Private Deceptions

by Glenn, Roy

  "You know I don’t believe that. But we’ll pass that for now. If Chilly had Pamela killed because she knew what was goin’ on, what did you have to be afraid of?"

  "He might have thought that she told me." Felicia looked away from me.

  I touched her shoulder. "Look at me, Felicia. Why’d you come back?"

  "I told you, I missed you."

  "It’s over, Felicia, Chilly’s dead. Jett’s dead. Monika may die." I put my arm around her. "Please tell me the truth, Felicia."

  "Nick." She kissed me on the cheek. "I told you the truth, I came back because I missed you. And you gave me the courage to face things. To finish what I started."

  "What was that?"

  "I told you why I left the force. Well, I didn’t tell you the whole story. Once the shooting stopped, Morgan and I searched the house. I told you about the cocaine, well, there was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash. Morgan said we could split it. He said he had an old friend who could get rid of the drugs for us. But I told him no, I didn’t want anything to do with the drugs. Morgan said, fine. I could keep all the money. He could make twice that from selling the drugs."

  "That’s why you were so worried about the cops investigating you. You were afraid they would find out."

  "Yes." Felicia looked away, but she turned back quickly. "So we robbed a bunch of dead drug dealers. Nobody would care about that, right?"

  "You would think. What happened?"

  "It was Rocky we robbed."

  "When did you find that out?"

  "I was looking at some of Pamela’s pictures. I recognized two of them from pictures she took at Jake’s party. Then Morgan called me and said that Rocky knew. He said he would kill both of us if we didn’t give back the drugs and the money."

  "How did he find out it was you two?"

  "Morgan’s source. He tried to sell the dope to one of Rocky’s people. He told Rocky he got it from Morgan, before they killed him. Morgan called and said he wanted to see me. He had bought into his uncle’s bar in Queens, he said to meet him there and we would figure out what to do. But he was dead when I got there. Police called it a robbery."

  "What happened then?"

  "Nothing."

  "Nothing?"

  "For the next couple of months, nothing happened. Then about a month ago, Rocky called me. He told me he wanted the money back. Or what happened to Morgan would happen to me. I was supposed to meet Rocky here the night Pamela died. I tried to call Pamela, to tell her to stay away from here. But I never did catch her. Pamela was dead when I got here."

  "Is that why you killed Rocky?"

  "Pamela died for something me and Morgan did. When I woke up and you were gone that morning, I called Rocky and told him I only had half of the money. He said to meet him at his club that night. I had the money, but I knew he would kill me anyway, whether I gave it to him or not."

  "That much was obvious."

  "I waited outside the club until I saw him pull up in the convertible. Two of his boyz were up front; Rocky was in the back seat. I walked up to the car and shot the three of them in the head. Then I swung around and put one each in their chests. I threw the gun on Rocky’s lap a got away from there."

  "Nobody would care if three piece of shit drug dealers got whacked in the street, right?"

  "That was my plan, Nick. I made it look like it was just another drug related murder."

  So there it is, I had actually solved the case. The big question now was, what was I going to do about it? I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I knew one thing for sure, I knew then that I was finished trying to play private detective. Too much like being a cop for me. I looked over at Felicia, I put my arms around her, and she rested her head against my chest. Whether I was in love with her or not I couldn’t turn her over to the police for what she’d done. She didn’t do anything that I hadn’t done. Felicia got revenge for her friend. I couldn’t roll her over for that. Or Mrs. Childers, or Chésará for that matter. I just couldn’t see myself helping the police. If they figured it out on their own, that would be different. But I knew they would make Chilly the fall guy.

  Case closed.

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  "Oh, Nick! That feels so good," Vivian moaned.

  I looked down at the dance floor at Impressions. From above the stage, I could see the entire club from where I was standing. I came here with Freeze. He didn’t tell me where we were goin’, he just said, "We need to ride." Next thing I know, we’re gettin’ valet parked at the club. "What we doin’ here?"

  "Time you and Bobby made peace and put that Camille shit behind y’all. Bitch been dead for ten fuckin’ years."

  Now why he wanna go and do that?

  Not this, not tonight. Freeze knew I’d had a rough week. I wanted to relax, clear my mind, and have a little fun. I needed to think about where I was goin’ from where I am now. But I got lucky; Bobby had already left for the night. "Good, I wasn’t up for that tonight anyway." That’s when I saw an old girl friend of mine named, Vivian Merrick.

  I just got back from Jett’s funeral in Iowa. Explaining to Jett’s parents how and why he died was hard. But it was harder to tell Monika. The afternoon she came out of her coma, I ran fanatically down the hall, screaming for a doctor or a nurse or anybody. Once the doctor checked her out, she left us alone. I told her that Jett was dead and how things played out with Chilly. She cried softly when I told her about Jett. "I’m going to take his body home to his parents in Iowa tomorrow," I said. "I talked to them yesterday. The funeral’s gonna be on Saturday."

  "I’m goin’ with you, Nick," Monika said softly as the tears poured from her eye.

  "Monika, I don’t think you’ll be strong enough to leave the hospital in time for the funeral."

  "Don’t argue with me, Nick. He saved my life and yours, too. He died goin’ after the bastard that shot me. I have to go," Monika mumbled, as she began to drift off to sleep.

  "You get some rest and we’ll talk about it in the morning." I knew better than to argue with her. Even in her condition, Monika was still as strong willed as ever.

  As promised, Monika went to Jett’s funeral, albeit in a wheelchair and in the company of a private nurse. After the funeral I took Monika back to the hospital and sat with her a while until she went to sleep. I left there and went to check on Gee. I walked up to the house and saw a for sale sign in the yard. I drove downtown to Chezara’s apartment building. The doorman told me that Ms. Rollins had moved out and he was not at liberty to say any more on the matter. I was happy for them. They were finally free at last.

  "Nick, that feels so good," Vivian moaned. "You’re gonna make me cum!"

  "Nick! You up here?" Freeze yelled, seeming to appear from nowhere.

  "Yeah!"

  "Well come on. I’m ready to go."

  "Alright — alright —" my voice trembled. "I’m coming."

  "Well hurry up then," Freeze said shaking his head as he turned away. "You ain’t changed a bit."

  Once I finished doin’ my thing with Vivian, I met Freeze at the bar and got myself a drink. Freeze looked at me and shook his head. "You ain’t changed a bit, nigga."

  "Give me a break, I’m tryin’ to relax."

  "You looked pretty intense from where I was standing."

  "Whatever."

  "I gotta go by the office, then we outta here. Come on."

  "What you gotta go to the office for? Bobby ain’t up there?"

  "No, Wanda’s up there. She got something for me. So stop actin’ like a bitch and come on."

  I followed Freeze upstairs to the office at Impressions. I didn’t appreciate him calling me a bitch. But if I wanted to be honest with myself, he was right. After reading Camille’s journal and talking to Wanda about it, it made the whole situation easier to deal with. In fact, it was like a tremendous weight that I’d dragged around with me for years had been lifted from my shoulders. I needed to put this shit behind us and move on. So what’s my probl
em? Probably because I was fuckin’ Camille behind his back. I didn’t think that Bobby would pull out his gun and shoot me on sight. But I wouldn’t put it past him. The fact was, I did some foul shit, and now I had to step up and face it.

  Freeze burst into the office, "What’s up, Wanda! What you got for me?"

  I followed him in. There was a woman standing by the window. Tight black mini skirt and black heels. The woman turned around, and to my surprise, it was Wanda.

  "I got a message for you. It wasn’t anything that couldn’t have waited," Wanda said as she walked toward Bobby’s desk. "How you doin’ tonight, Nick?"

  "I’m good. How are you?"

  "I’m tired and I’m ready to go home. But Bobby wants me to see tonight’s act. What’s he call himself?"

  "The One," Freeze said.

  "Whatever," Wanda said as she leaned over the desk looking for the message. I’d seen her in a business suit and a big fuzzy robe, but if I had any remaining doubts about how fine Wanda had gotten, the black mini crushed them. Those beautiful legs lead up to a near perfect ass and that slim waist. Felicia Hardy crossed my mind. She jumped back into law school and didn’t seem to have a minute to talk. Or maybe she was tryin’ to tell me something?

  "I’ll see what he got," Wanda said. "You two gonna stay and watch the show with me?"

  "No, I gotta roll. Doc said some niggas was tryin’ to post up in his spot," Freeze said, before I had a chance to say yes. Wanda looked a little disappointed, but she covered it up.

  "Here it is," she said, handing Freeze a piece of paper.

  "Derrick Washington?" Freeze said in surprise. "What Curl want?"

  "I don’t know. He just said to call him."

  "Derrick Washington. I heard that name before," I said.

  "You should have, you made him somebody when you killed Chilly," Freeze spit out.

  "Chilly’s lieutenant," I had been trying to put all that behind me, but I see that wasn’t happening.

  "It’s probably his boyz that’s tryin’ to set up at Doc’s. I’ll be right back, Nick, then we goin’ to Doc’s." Freeze left the office, slamming the door behind him. I looked over at Wanda, who had taken a seat behind Bobby’s desk. I expected her to say something about Chilly, but she didn’t.

  "You look tired, Nick."

  "Yeah, maybe I need a vacation."

  "Everything is taken care of with the police so you might as well."

  I laughed out loud. "I can’t remember the last time I sat around somewhere with nothing to do all day."

  "They tell me that’s what people do on vacation. Try it, and let me know how it works out," Wanda laughed. "I haven’t taken a vacation in years."

  "Why don’t you come with me?"

  "Excuse me? Did you just invite me to take a vacation with you?" Wanda smiled. "What are you suggesting?"

  "I didn’t mean anything by it, Wanda. I was just sayin’ that since you haven’t taken one in years that you could probably use one, too. I wasn’t suggesting anything." I looked at Wanda, thinking that it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

  "Well, thanks anyway, but I’ve got too much work to do. Where are you thinking about goin’?"

  "I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go to the Bahamas, see Black. Meet our new queen." And I regretted it as soon as I said it.

  Wanda rolled her eyes. "That’s a good idea. I know Black would like to see you. And when you get back, you and I need to sit down and go over some things."

  "Like what?" I smiled and took a seat across from her.

  "Business, Nick," Wanda smiled back.

  "Business?"

  "Just business. I don’t know where your head is." Wanda dropped her head, and quickly looked up. "I mean about what you wanna do now, but I know Black has some things he’d like to talk to you about."

  "I’ve been thinkin’ a lot about what I wanna do," I said suggestively.

  "And what have you come up with?"

  Just then, Freeze burst into the office. "Let’s go, Nick," Freeze barked.

  I got up slowly.

  "Goodnight, Nick, we’ll finish our discussion when you get back," Wanda said suggestively.

  "When you get back?" Freeze asked as we made our way down the stairs. "Where the fuck you goin’?"

  "I’m goin’ to meet Shy."

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  My cab pulled up in front of Black’s Paradise, in Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island. I paid the cab driver and tipped him nicely. I opened my suitcase and while the driver looked on in horror, I took my gun and extra clips out of the bag. I got out of the cab, put the gun in my waist and pulled my shirt down over it. I put the clips in my back pocket while I walked toward the door.

  As I got closer I could hear the sound of reggae music. I’d reserved a room at The Bahama Princess Hotel, but I decided to come to the club first. I went inside and wandered around looking for Black. Not seeing him anywhere I stepped to the bar to get a drink and ask for him. A very pretty bartender came over to see what I was drinking. "What can I get for you?" the bartender asked.

  "Johnnie Walker Black, straight up."

  "Comin’ up," she replied as she poured my drink. "Can I get you a menu?"

  "Yeah," I said. "I heard the food was great here." She handed me the menu and I glanced at it. "What do you recommend?"

  "That depends, how hungry are you?"

  "I haven’t eaten all day, unless you call peanuts on the plane coming down here eating."

  "Then you definitely want to try our Bahamian Platter. It’s a taste of almost everything on the menu."

  "Then that’s what I’m having."

  The bartender walked away to give the kitchen my order, but returned quickly. "Just got in, huh?"

  "Yes," I said, taking a sip of my drink. "Just got in from New York."

  "Really, I’m from New York."

  "Oh yeah," I said, thinking that it figured that Black would hire somebody from New York to handle his money. "What part?"

  "The Bronx."

  "I’m from The Bronx. In fact, I came here to surprise an old friend. I was hoping he’d be here."

  "Really. What’s your friends name?"

  "Mike Black, is he here?"

  "Who are you?"

  "I’m sorry, my name is Nick Simmons."

  The bartender smiled, "Well, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I was beginning to think you were just a figment of everyone’s imagination."

  "No, I’m for real," I paused. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage here. I mean, you seem to know me, but I haven’t had the pleasure of making your acquaintance," I said looking at the huge rock on her finger. Why are all the really fine ones always married?

  "Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Shy, Mike Black is my husband," she said extending her hand.

  Not only is she married, but she’s Black’s wife. When will I ever learn? I shook her hand, "So, you’re the famous Shy." Shy shook her head and smiled. "Well it is truly a pleasure to finally met you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you, but I knew that you weren’t imaginary. It took a real woman to get Black out of New York," I said finishing my drink. Shy poured me another and left the bottle.

  "It was Black’s idea to move down here. It seemed like a good idea at the time. You know, fun and sun everyday. But to be honest with you, Nick," Shy paused a second and looked around. "It’s boring as hell here."

  I laughed. "Really?

  "Yes, and its too hot all the time. Some day’s I feel like David Ruffin, singing I Wish It Would Rain. That is until it rains, I never knew it could rain so hard. And these women," Shy shook her head. "Let me stop."

  "You just miss New York, that’s all."

  "You ain’t told no lie there. But I guess you know that I’m a fugitive, so I can’t go back to the city."

  "Wanda hasn’t been any help with that?" I asked.

  "Not really. I mean, I give her credit, she did get the murder charges dropped, but she can’t seem to be able to make no headway on the con
spiracy to distribute. Sometimes I think she’s glad I’m down here."

  "Why do you think that?" I asked, thinking that she might be right.

  "Come on, Nick, you’ve known her and Michael a lot longer than I have. Even though neither of them will say it and I’ve never asked either of them, I know at some point there was something goin’ on between them. I know that whatever it was is over for Michael, but I think Wanda still feelin’ it."

  "You sound a little jealous. Are you?"

  "No!" Shy said quickly and louder than she needed to. "Well, maybe just a little. But I’m not worried about her. I got more than enough woman to worry about on this boring ass island."

  The cook brought my food, before I could ask her what she was so worried about. Shy introduced me to the cook and told him that this was one of Black’s best friends, "So the food better be good or he’ll fire you," Shy laughed, sending the cook about his business, with very worried look on his face. I tore into the food, like a man who hadn’t eaten in weeks.

  "Michael said you could eat. I’ll let you eat in peace. I’ll be back when you’re done."

  My mouth was too full to answer.

  Once I finished eating, as promised, Shy returned and poured me another drink. "So, I take it that Black’s not here?"

  "He’s in New York."

  "New York? Can’t be, I just left there. Freeze dropped me off at Newark this morning. He can’t be in the city and Freeze not know it," I laughed, when I thought better of it. Suppose Black told her he was goin’ to New York and went somewhere else?

  "No, he’s there. Knowing those two, Freeze probably dropped you off at Newark and picked him up Kennedy. You know how secretive they are."

  I laughed, but I knew she was right.

  Shy looked at me and leaned against the bar. "So, Black says you two have friends since the first day you met."

  "He said that?" I looked at Shy. Then it occurred to me that Black wouldn’t have his wife bartending. So I put his hand on I gun. "Is that what he told you?"

  "Ain’t that what happened?"

  "No, we had a fight the first day we met."