by Zach Tate
With that small deed done, I walked over to see Proverb.
“Proverb, what’s the word?”
“A man’s steps are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way? You got two gold plates and sixteen thousand in here. I think it’s time to head to the bank.”
Proverb wouldn’t steer me wrong. I knew what made sense when I heard it. I said my farewells and took the two plates to Citibank.
I opened a safe deposit box, and did exactly what Yoda told me to do. As I exited the bank, I caught a sight out of my peripheral vision that triggered the light bulb in my head.
An older man was stuffing stacks of new bills in a pouch. On his arm was a hot young brunette that looked thirty years younger than he was, and ten times greedier. They were kissing and carrying on in the bank while waiting for a teller. I guessed she was happy that he was getting the cash, and I guessed he was too stupid or excited to realize that amount of cash wasn’t suppose to be put into a pouch.
I stepped outside, grabbed a newspaper from the garbage can on the corner, and waited for the lovebirds to come out. As he walked on Eighth Avenue with his woman, looking at the sights, the pouch dangled under his arm. I couldn’t believe the man was that stupid. A few other wolves were scheming. I nodded and told them non-verbally that the mark was mine. They followed the jostler’s code and stepped away, hoping one day I would follow that same code. I followed the mark closely for about five minutes. The one place he should have never gone to was the one place where the fool ended up. He went into the doors of the Port Authority bus terminal and headed for the subway.
It wasn’t uncommon for millionaires to ride the subways of New York. Most very rich people didn’t look rich, and if you didn’t know what to look for in the rich, you could never tell. Anyway, I sped up in front of the man to purchase my token. When I went through the turnstile I delayed, saw them heading downtown, and I walked ahead of them.
We sat on a polished hardwood platform bench, waiting for the train to arrive. I avoided all eye contact, but kept my focus on the pouch. After waiting for nine minutes, the A Train went flying by. Again the couple kissed without realizing I was there. When I looked inside of the halting train, I saw a police officer standing at the back of the cart. Just my luck, the train stopped in front of the couple and me. I thought of giving up on the sting, but the vic and his woman stood a good distance from the officer. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I rose to the challenge.
The two doors opened and I pulled the pouch off the man’s wrist. When he realized what happened, the commuters were exiting the train and I was entering the cart. The mark, two steps behind, called for me, and then called for the police. While the main doors of the train car closed behind us, I quickly pulled open the inner door of the cart that separated one train from the other.
Quickly, I slammed the door in the man’s face, hoping that it would take too long for the officer to get through the crowded cart. The train was pulling off. I removed the safety chains between the carts. I slammed it down and slid through the opening to jump back onto the platform. By the time the man, his lover, and the officer were in between the carts, the train was speeding in the tunnel and I was waving goodbye.
Perhaps Keiki’s death made me reckless, but I didn’t care. I took a quick glance while going through the bills. I was carrying about $20,000.
I left the bus terminal and walked out on Eighth Avenue on top of the world. As I headed for the Carter, I had my head down, trying to zip the pouch closed. Instantly I felt it leave my hands. When I quickly turned around, I bumped into a giant. The thief that snatched the pouch looked like a black blur turning the corner. I couldn’t run. I didn’t want to bring any heat on myself. I was sure the officer from the train was on his radio with my description.
I followed the path of the thief, and turned the corner onto 42nd Street. He was no where in sight. I looked all around to see if he was blending, but all I could see was the long line of stores. I was fuming. I couldn’t believe someone had the audacity to think that I was a mark and prove themselves right. I was ready to head back to the Carter, but when I turned around, a short brown-eyed Jew, wearing a black suit and a black Yamakule with locks going down the side of his White face, was bouncing the pouch in his hands.
“Johnny Hustle, right?” he asked with a grin on his face.
As soon as the words left his mouth, I knew I was standing in front of the infamous Snow.
“Yeah, you’re Snow right? Saw you at Money Russ’ bash?”
He held onto the pouch. My eyes were glued to it. “No way you gonna be the king if you were counting the poke before you got back to your nest.” What could I say after that? I shrugged my shoulders. “Yoda ain’t around, Russ is high, Brave Dave is strung out, Vanilla is useless, and I can’t find Pee Wee so that leaves me with you.”
“Oh yeah? So when do you plan on handing that pouch back over?”
He bounced the pouch in his hands again. “This pouch? This pouch is mine. Can you imagine the reaction of the first Black mayor losing his Jewish support because a Black man was fighting with me in the heart of Times Square? Nah, I’m going to hold onto this.”
If I were a gambling man, my money would have bet that there was never going to be a Black Mayor in New York, so I was ready to beat that man down for my cash until he continued.
“Now, you can get it back if you agree to make a drag team with me tomorrow?”
“Why me?”
“First off, because no one else is around. I have to be honest. The second reason? I need a Black man. This Black guy? He killed his wife to get insurance money. Now that the money is in his account and the police didn’t find any foul play, he wants to buy a brownstone in Brooklyn. Problem is, a synagogue owns the property, and his soon-to-be wife is a Palestinian. So, I picked up the vic through the kosher grapevine. He’s ready to sign a check, but he’s always complaining that he wants to do business with a ‘brotha’ and not ‘all these Jews.’”
“So what’s the cut?” I asked, willing to learn how to perfect my hustle.
“A hundred large. We take fifty each. The rest goes back down the pike to the higher ups.” He passed me the pouch. “Here, take the pouch now. I’ll meet you at the Carter tomorrow. We do the sting nine o’clock in the morning in Brooklyn. You’ll be back by lunch. Fifty large in the black, no pun intended. Shalom.”
I accepted the pouch and agreed to the proposal. While walking up 42nd Street to see Proverb, I made sure I held onto my stacks extra tight. As if I wasn’t having enough bad luck for the day, I walked by a movie theater and I heard someone call out, “John.”
I turned around and it was my crazy nephew and his young crime partner with a couple of girls. I was sure between the two of them there had to be at least four guns in their possession.
“Dayum, homey. You looking prettier than Christmas morning duke.”
My eyes closed as soon as I saw whom the voice was coming from. He was much more muscular, and his short afro didn’t hide his hard facial features. When I looked at his clothes and the two diamond filled gold fangs in his mouth, I wanted him to leave as soon as possible. If anyone tried to rob the gold from around him or his partners necks, I was positive the mayor was gonna be a White man. My nephew was out of control with guns. Hurriedly, I put a smile on my face.
“Hey, little Webb. What’s happening man?”
I looked over at his light skinned, blue eyed, well-dressed partner who always had a smooth demeanor. “Damn, Jason, you getting big. What you guys doing down here?”
In an over aggressive scowl, my nephew said, “Duke…duke, with all the questions, duke. What you doing down here? You looking like you stacking major chips, fam? Stacking major chips."
I took a deep breath, thought about the business proposal Sha from the car service told me about and said, “Got a few things I been working on. As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about you the other day. I might send some business your way.”
When he heard the words business, he sent the girls inside the movie-theater. “Yeah—yeah? Aw’ight, just don’t send no pigs to my peoples and me, fam. You got some paper for me to take? I need some paper to take.”
“Well, I got to set it up. So give me your number and I’ll fill you in, ‘cause I got to go.”
Jason pulled out a small business card and handed it to me. Then Webb said, “Yo, fam, that’s the celli, fam—that’s the celli, fam. Hit me or Jay up any time, twenty-four-seven.” He did what I hoped he wasn’t going to do, and asked, “What’s in the pouch, fam? You know your sister Marie got mad mouths to feed? What’s in the pouch, fam?”
His hand went to the pouch. I quickly pulled the pouch away, reached in, and removed $500 and put it in his hands. His smile was bigger than the sun. Once I pointed out that his movie was about to start, he left me standing there without saying goodbye.
I damn near ran to see Proverb. For some reason that money was trying to stay in everyone else’s hands except mine.
“Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly.”
I thought Proverb was messing with me when I walked through the door so I took a line from Yoda. “Yeah whatever.”
I dropped the cash on the table, told him that I wanted to set up a trust fund for Mimi, and was out the door.
My bed was waiting for me. Suki was going to join me with Mimi in between us. I was grateful. All I wanted to do was sleep.
$$$
The following day, Suki took Mimi to work in the hotel. There was a plastic-wear convention in town and half of the run down hotels was going to be booked. She made preparations for some of her family members to come to give a hand, so we were all up early that morning.
After I ate breakfast, I waited in the lobby watching Suki and Mimi at work. A blue Dodge Diplomat with tinted windows pulled up to the entrance. When I looked out and saw the small head with the Yarmulke move inside, I knew that was my ride.
“What the hell you doing driving a detective looking car?” I asked Snow. When I sat in the car, he gunned the engine. “Can you imagine how many police officers think I’m a fellow officer, or even a Rabbi when they pull me over in this? I drive the same vehicles they do. I’m invisible.”
I stored that information in my memory banks. During the whole ride to Brooklyn, I had to listen to Paul Simon tapes.
When we exited the car, we walked into a Brownstone in Crown Heights that was under renovation. The living room had two large mahogany desks, with phone lines that made it looked like a mini office. Snow told me to sit behind a desk. My job was to elevate the mark by telling him what he wanted to hear so he would sign the certified check for $176,000.
Our game plan was interrupted when the stocky Black man walked in the door using foul language. On his side was his soon-to-be Palestinian wife. As I sized him up, I wondered if the body of the wife he killed was even cold. Then I wondered if the new woman knew what happened to the last one. In my head Yoda’s voice said: That ain’t your business. Your business is taking that chumps paper. And it was going to be my pleasure doing just that.
The mark was overconfident. He knew it all. He bragged about how much money he had, and how he was going to be the only Black man on the block who lived in a house that was owned by the original ghetto folk.
I grew tired of the man’s remarks. I tugged my ear at Snow, then pointed with my chin. Snow was a pro. He picked up on my sign and excused himself from the room. Once he was gone I started to work.
“Hey, Bro,” I whispered while waving him over. When he made his noisy attempt at creeping, I said, “Listen, Bro; if you know what time it is, you better sign that check and let them close on this deal.”
“But what about the inspection? You know I need an inspection and I haven’t seen any appraisal papers yet.”
I leaned in closer. “Man, who you think do those inspections? You know the Jews rule the world. You can stop that right now, today, by giving the brothers a chance.”
I looked around like I had an even bigger secret. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this. We about to get a Black Mayor and he’s gonna spend a lot of money building up Brooklyn. The property value is about to skyrocket on this place. They know you’re a serious bidder. So they want to hold up your inspection until after the election, and then they gonna raise the price. After our brother is done, those same Jews that are moving out of Brooklyn, are gonna be the same ones trying to come back. They just gonna have to pay us twice as much. If you know what I know, you better beat these hymies while you can.”
The vic nodded. His racism controlled his emotions, stopping his intelligence. He looked at me and asked, “Where’s your Kike partner at?”
Like a cue was sent, Snow walked in a few seconds later. The man pulled out his pen, signed the check and said, “I’m signing this and I want you people out of my house now.” He pulled out a $100 bill, handing it to me like he’d been tipping that way his whole life. “Power to the people, brotha. Right on,” he said, pumping his fist in the air.
The vic walked out of the house and Snow verified that the check was legit. Two goons in suits who looked like they ate metal nails for breakfast appeared from the other room. In their hands were two briefcases. Snow grabbed one, handed me the other, and we headed back to the car.
Since I never did business with Snow before, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t hustling me. I checked the case to make sure everything was legit and it was. A bunch of twenties were crowding the case. It was great doing business with my orthodox Jewish buddy whom was really Polish-American.
$$$
Proverb wanted to celebrate when he placed another gold plate in my hand. I didn’t hesitate to catch the bank, and like Snow promised, I was back on the Deuce before noon.
I wasn’t ready to go back to the hotel. I wanted to celebrate. It was too early to see Roxy. The sex we had was great, but she didn’t know how to handle a man that was well hung. The little sex-work I did made her so pleased that she wanted to give me her all. According to her, it was how a woman was suppose to show her appreciation when she ran into the one man that could penetrate her soul. I didn’t know who taught her that, but had no complaints.
I looked forward to helping Suki deal with Mimi. I knew the hotel was going to be packed that day. I stepped into the lobby and like I expected, it was packed. Suki was behind the desk, but I didn’t see Mimi.
“Where’s Mimi, Suki?” I asked in a polite tone since her husband was standing next to her.
“She leave with modder. Modder say she wan fight. Too many customer, I go when Carter no busy.”
I headed for the elevator and told her that I would take care of it, hoping Kimmy wouldn’t do too much damage in the few hours that I was gone.
The elevator stopped on the first floor. When the doors opened, I saw Mimi run by screaming with the bottom half of her tiny body exposed. A fat White man was running behind her with a towel wrapped around his naked pink body.
I yelled out to Mimi. She crawled through the man’s legs on her knees. When she reached me she pointed to the man that was running back my way and said, “He tried to stick a snake in me, Dadd…”
My left jab caught the cartilage of his nose and I felt the weak flesh collapse under my blow. My right uppercut connected under his jaw and I felt the shifting of the bone in his chin. My other left jab, and over hand right knocked him unconscious. There was no time or rational thought to my actions, I just reacted.
I dragged his hefty body into an empty room, and dumped it into the bathtub. I then rushed over to Kimmy’s room where Mimi was hiding under the bed. While seated, Kimmy opened her eyes from her nod. I tried to put my foot through her face. I could have killed her, but a consequence was an afterthought. I had to get Mimi out of there for good.
“Mimi. Come here. Get from under the bed and let’s go,” I pleaded.
She peeked from under the bed to make sure it was really me talking to her. Then her
little body moved with agility to reach the safety of my arms. Immediately, I got her dressed, and was out the door.
With Mimi in my arms, I jumped down the flight of steps and into the crowded lobby. Our eyes met and I yelled, “Suki, get your ass up to my room now,” again, not considering the consequence of my actions.
By the time I reached the third floor, I heard the elevator open. I moved Mimi to my room and calmed her down until Suki stepped in.
“Stay here with her and don’t move until I tell you to. How could you let her out of your sight?” I asked Suki.
I didn’t give her a chance to respond. I was in a hurry. The last thing I wanted was for that pedophile getting away. I wiped Mimi’s face and tried to calm her down before asking, “Mimi? Tell daddy. Did the man put the snake inside of you?”
Her head shook side to side. Thank God the monster didn’t violate her.
“Okay, you stay here with Suki. I’m going to deal with the monster and kill the snake.”
I walked out the room, stopped short, and then doubled back. I raced to the closet, removed two cards from my suit pocket, and was out of the door again.
As I entered the dilapidated first floor dwelling, I heard a stirring come from within. When I reached the entrance to the tiny room, the predator was trying to lift his heavy body out of tub. Again, my knuckles crashed into his flesh and he was off in dreamland. While looking at his twisted body, thoughts of murder seeped through me. I wanted the man stopped. I wanted to make sure he would never haunt some young girl’s dreams ever again. I wanted him dead, but I didn’t have it in me to take his life, so I cried.
Instead of sitting with the man all day, I shifted the responsibility of his fate to someone who was more callous. A professional in handling those types of situations. I called my nephew.