by Ca$H
Shivering a bit, Kiam headed straight to the coffee machine and fixed himself a large steaming hot cup with no sugar or cream. With both hands wrapped around the cup he began to thaw out a little. He walked up to the counter and paid the old white woman who had been watching him like a hawk since he entered the store.
Kiam pulled out his cell and hit JuJu as he walked to another section of the store.
“Yo, Boss. Where you at?” JuJu asked before Kiam could get a word out.
In a whisper Kiam told him the business.
“Goddamn. You're a'ight, ain't you?” JuJu asked.
“Yeah, just cold as fuck and worried about shorty.”
“I feel you. She's gangsta.” Their respect for Lissha was now off the rack. “I'm on my way,” said JuJu.
JuJu arrived in record time. As soon as Kiam got in the truck he made some phone calls letting the crew know to meet him at JuJu's where Bayonna was already waiting.
When they arrived Bayonna greeted JuJu with a hug and they sat down on the couch next to one another. Treebie was already kicked back in an overstuffed chair nursing a glass of 1800. She sat the glass down on the table and blazed a blunt.
“Put it out,” Kiam ordered as he sat across from her in an armchair.
Treebie lowered her eyes at him in defiance.
“Not tonight,” he warned in a serious tone.
For once Treebie didn't test him. She put the blunt out and picked up her drink. “Is a bitch allowed to drink around this piece?” she asked sarcastically.
Kiam ignored her, he did not have time for the bullshit. The scowl on his face matched the perpetual mean mug that Dirty, who was on post by the door, wore.
Clearing his throat Kiam commanded everyone's full attention. When he was sure that they were locked in he gave them a short version of what had transpired.
“That's my bitch,” Treebie exclaimed proudly. She could picture Lissha letting that tool pop.
“I could've told Wolfman's bitch she wasn't ready,” Bayonna chimed in. She jumped up from the couch and whipped out her banger. “Fuck a diamond, this right here is a bitch's best friend.”
“Fuck she think our girl was a duck?” Treebie tossed back her drink, stood up and high-fived Bay. “Tell Xyna to get it how she muthafuckin’ live! Oh, hold up,” she clowned. “The bitch dead.”
Kiam let them act up for a minute then he told them to sit their asses down. “This is serious,” he reminded them.
“No, it's not. It was self-defense,” said Treebie.
Kiam wasn't so sure that it was going to play out like that. He was familiar with the court system and he knew that those dirty bastards didn't play fair.
“Don't worry, LiLi will come bursting through that door any minute,” Treebie predicted.
But she was wrong.
After being taken to the emergency room and treated for a superficial head wound Lissha was taken to jail and charged with murder, possession of a firearm while in commission of a felony and possession of marijuana.
**********
One week later...
Kiam smiled as Lissha entered the small phone booth-sized cubicle where he sat separated from her by a thick Plexiglas partition. She was wearing blue jailhouse scrubs that fitted her loosely. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyebrows needed arching but she looked like new money to him.
He stood up so that she could check him out then they both sat down. Lissha smiled as she picked up the black telephone, wiped it down with the sleeve of her shirt then put it to her ear.
Kiam picked up the receiver on his side of the glass and spoke into it. “What's up, ma? How are you holding up?”
“Hi, baby. I'm a rider so you already know,” Lissha replied cheerfully as she looked in his eyes. “You look good, man,” she complimented.
Kiam had gotten a fresh haircut and was rockin’ all Burberry, an icy watch and a platinum chain. Stuntin' a little so that people at the jail could see that she had a boss nigga on her side.
“You look good too,” he remarked.
“No, I don't,” she laughed. “My hair is jacked and it feels like I've lost all of my booty.”
Kiam chuckled. “Nah, that ass is still on swole.”
Lissha started cheesing mad hard. “I'm going to need you to tap it for me whenever I get out of here,” she said, crossing her fingers that he didn't reject her.
“I got you, baby girl.”
Lissha couldn't believe her ears. She did her little happy dance on the hard metal stool and when she sat still her pussy was still jumping. “I can't wait,” she said. “And this time I'm turning off both of our phones. Muthafuckaz be blocking like a mug.”
Kiam couldn't help but feel a stronger connection to her now. In the game it was all about show and prove. Lissha was doing both.
“Shorty, I'ma have you out of here in a few days. I talked with the lawyers yesterday and they assured me that the murder and gun charges will be dropped. You did the right thing by not giving a statement that night. One thing for sure, Big Zo taught you well,” he acknowledged.
Lissha's smile melted at the mention of Big Zo's name but she quickly forced it back onto her face.
“You a'ight?” asked Kiam.
“Yes, baby, I'm fine. What have my bitches been up to?”
“Everybody miss you. Treebie is about ready to come bust you outta this bitch. Bay threatening the bondsman and shit even though he can't do nothing until the judge sets a bond. JuJu can't wait to put one in the air with you.”
Lissha was cracking up.
“What about you, do you miss me?” she asked Kiam, holding his stare with soft eyes that communicated her love for him.
“Yeah, I miss your big headed ass. Fa real, shorty. That's why those lawyers better have you up outta here by the weekend or I'ma go ham?”
Lissha blushed so hard she turned two shades lighter. “Tell me what you're going to do to me the first day I come home.”
Kiam whispered something real hot into the receiver.
“Oh, my, god!” She wiggled around on the stool. “These muthafuckaz gots to hurry up and free a bitch. I need some of that heat.”
They exchanged freaky promises back and forth until it was time for Kiam to go. Lissha pressed her thighs together to calm her pussy down before she stood up.
Kiam put his palm to the glass and Lissha touched hers to his. “Love you, shorty,” he said.
“I love you too, Kiam,” Lissha professed as her eyes became misty. “With all my heart and soul.” She returned the phone to the hook and moved to the doors afraid to look back, she didn’t want to ruin her happy moment with tears.
Kiam watched as they cuffed her and lead her out. He had been on the other side many times but this was the first time he experienced what it felt like seeing someone he loved in chains.
JuJu and Dirty was waiting out in the truck for Kiam when he came out of the jail. “How is she?” asked JuJu as soon as Kiam got in the car.
“Shorty is a real trooper. She's not tripping nothin'; she's just kicked back, keeping her mouth closed, and letting those Jew boys do what I'm paying them to do. She'll be out in a few days.”
“That's what's up,” said JuJu.
Dirty nodded his head but otherwise his focus was on security.
Kiam turned on some music and Chief Keef blasted out of the speakers. He turned the volume down some so that they could discuss drug business. The streets were dry and Kiam wanted to fuck the game until its pussy got wet again.
In the middle of the discussion Kiam's phone vibrated in his pocket. When he answered it Big Zo's voice belted in his ear. “What the fuck are you doing out there? Tell me why my daughter is locked up for protecting you.”
“It's a long story, Pop, but don't worry, it's nothing. I'll—”
“Don't tell me it's nothing!” Big Zo yelled in his ear. “You're fuckin' up out there. If you quit trying to fuck everything in a skirt you might learn to make the right muthafuckin’ moves.”
&n
bsp; Kiam took the phone away from his ear but Big Zo's voice continued to boom out. JuJu and Dirty looked away, embarrassed by what they were hearing.
“Weak men follow their dicks. I should've never put you in charge!”
Kiam waited until his mentor calmed the fuck down then he put the phone back to his ear and spoke in a low and respectful tone. “Pop, you're overreacting. I got this. Lissha will be home any day now. And if you didn't think I could run this you would've never turned it over to me.”
“Now I wish like hell I hadn't.”
“Pop, like I said everything is fine. You gave me the keys to the car now let me drive.”
“Drive?” Pop shouted. “Fool, you can't even walk straight.”
Kiam had heard enough. “Look, old man, you're not talking to no bitch. I respect you but I'm not your ho.”
“Muthafucka, you're whatever I want you to be,” Big Zo exploded.
His remark crushed Kiam.
“That's how you feel, huh?” Kiam asked.
For a minute there was nothin' but silence on the phone. Biz Zo was the first to break it. “I'm sorry, son,” he apologized. “It's just that my daughter is all I have. I told you that.”
“And I told you you have me.”
“I know that I do.”
“A'ight Pop, it's all good. I'ma charge that one to your mind not your heart. I'll talk to you later.” Kiam hung up the phone and looked out of the window. The heat coming off of his brow was hot enough to melt steel. Never had any man talked to him like that and lived to tell it.
Chapter 25
Bitch'n Up
Big Zo was cooler than a summer's breeze as he was escorted to the attorney/client interview room by the captain. Only he knew the bitch move that he was about to make.
He spoke to the homies as he passed by and said over his shoulder, “These muthafuckaz trying to give me some more time. Ha! I already got life, what can they do to me? Hot ass niggas out there telling shit that's ten years old.”
Nobody suspected that Big Zo was about to officially become a confidential informant because he was thought to be the last of a dying breed: a man of principle who would rather spend the rest of his life in prison than turn state.
“You can take the handcuffs off of him,” said the DEA agent as soon as the captain led Big Zo into the interview room.
The captain removed the handcuffs and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.
“Have a seat,” said Special Agent MacArthur, a tall broad shouldered man in his late forties. He introduced himself but didn't offer Big Zo a handshake because he hated a rat too. But informants were the Bureau's best investigative tool.
Big Zo sat down and bounced his leg up and down as he calculated what he would reveal and how it would work in his favor.
“Alonzo Wilson,” MacArthur addressed him.
“Yeah, that's me.”
“Your daughter contacted our office in Ohio on your behalf and we're very interested in how the two of you might be able to help us.”
“We can help you, alright. We can help you get some big names off the streets. I'm talking big,” Big Zo boasted. “Kingpins and drug gangs that move hundreds of kilos of cocaine a week and who are responsible for hundreds of murders over the years.”
The agent had done his homework on Big Zo before agreeing to meet with him. He knew that Big Zo had dealt with some powerful people in the drug world before his incarceration. They had tried to flip him back then but he had refused to cooperate. MacArthur figured, correctly, that the time had finally broken Big Zo. “Who can you give us?” he asked as he picked up a pen and prepared to jot down the names.
Big Zo rattled off some heavyweights.
Agent MacArthur let out a long whistle as he wrote. The agency had been after one of the men Big Zo named for years.
“And I'm going to help you get the person that is most responsible for the increase of murders in Cleveland, Ohio, including the mass murder that happened at that restaurant a month ago.”
MacArthur's head snapped up and he looked Big Zo in the eyes to determine if he was being forthright. The restaurant slayings was a case that the mayor of Cleveland really wanted to solve.
Big Zo returned his look with one of sincerity and MacArthur read just that. He sat his pen down on the notepad and folded his huge mitts on the desk. “And what is it that you want in return?” he asked.
“My freedom. And I want immunity for my daughter. I don't give a fuck about nobody else.”
“How deeply is your daughter involved with these people?”
“She's involved very deeply. But she has to receive full immunity and I have to walk out of prison scot-free or it's no deal.”
“Will she agree to become a confidential informant too?”
“Yes. She'll do whatever it takes.”
MacArthur smiled. If Alonzo Wilson and his daughter could deliver as promised he would be looking at a huge promotion. “Let me clear this with my superiors and get with your attorney off record and I'll get back to you.”
Big Zo stood up. “Don't drag your feet on this. I'm getting old. I want to get the fuck out of here.”
**********
Back in Ohio Kiam was having lunch with Riz at a restaurant in the warehouse district. At a table next to theirs sat Bones, JuJu and Dirty.
Kiam put a fork full of tilapia in his mouth and chewed as Riz voiced his concerns in a low tone. “Kiam, I'm suspicious of one of the people that's on your team,” he began.
“And who might that be?” Kiam looked up from his plate and took a sip of water.
“Treebie,” Riz replied without hesitation. “A little over a month ago I sent one of my most valued men here to search for Blood Money. That man's name was Wa'leek and I loved him like a brother. The last time I spoke with Wa'leek he indicated to me that he had found out the identities of Blood Money. He was supposed to deliver their bodies to me but now Wa'leek, for some unexplainable reason, has disappeared off the face of the earth.” Riz stabbed a shrimp with his fork and held it up to his mouth but didn't put it in.
“I'm sorry about your man but what does Treebie have to do with it?” asked Kiam, taking another bite of his fish.
“I see you don't know,” said Riz. “Wa'leek was Treebie's husband.”
Kiam was surprised to hear that Treebie was married but he still couldn't make the connection that Riz was inferring. “Okay,” he said. “But what reason would Treebie have to make her husband disappear? Did he violate her in a major way? You know Treebie ain't the bitch for a nigga to cross.”
“Or trust either.”
“I'ma have to respectfully differ with you on that,” Kiam defended her. “But if you can prove it, I'll gladly listen.”
“Nah, I can't prove it but my instincts are seldom wrong. There's something real foul going on within your crew and it all revolves around that bitch Treebie and probably Lissha too. Bayonna is the only one of them that can be trusted.” The shrimp disappeared into his mouth followed by another one.
“Well, we will let history unfold, but if I find out you are the one sewing evil intent in my house we will definitely have a problem,” Kiam warned.
“Fair enough. But if we find out you live in a den of thieves then the problem will be mine to solve.” Riz spoke firm as well.
Kiam nodded his understanding then changed the subject to business. He was damn near out of product and there was too much money out there to be made to let it go into another nigga's pocket.
Riz told him that he wished to continue doing business with him but he was concerned about the heat that was coming down over Kiam's beef with Wolfman. “I wouldn't want your problems coming to my front door,” he wisely stated.
“I'm tryna bring a mil' and some change to your front door. Then two weeks later I'll double that. So I'm talking three point-five. How does that sound to you?”
Riz pushed his half-eaten seafood platter away from him and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin as he weighed Kia
m's proposal. Finally he said, “Everything in me tells me that you're as official as they come, yo. So I'm going to continue to fuck with you. But I need one promise from you before I leave here today.”
“Ask it,” said Kiam, pushing his plate away too and looking Riz in the eye.
“Kiam, I had decided to have Bones kill Treebie. But I'll cancel that now. Just promise me, man to man, that if it turns out that Treebie is foul you'll kill that bitch yourself.”
“On my word,” vowed Kiam.
Riz reached his hand across the table and Kiam locked it with his. No other words were necessary. They agreed on the next shipment and Kiam and his mans departed.
Kiam dropped JuJu and Dirty off then headed home to start getting things ready for Lissha. The murder and gun charges were going to be dismissed tomorrow and she could bond out on the weed charge.
Kiam's phone rung as he neared home. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Big Zo calling. He allowed the call to go to voicemail because after the way Big Zo had talked to him he was cool on that nigga. Kiam was unsure how that would affect him and Lissha, but if she planned on fucking with him she was going to have to choose a side and ride.
As Kiam turned onto his street a police car came up behind him and turned on its flashing lights. He smoothly slipped his banger into the hidden compartment on the door and pulled over, figuring that he must've made a turn without coming to a complete stop.
All of a sudden cop cars swarmed in out of everywhere, uniformed and plainclothes police jumped out with their guns aimed at his head. “Get out of the car with your hands up! Don't move or I'll blow your fuckin' head off!”
Kiam looked to both sides and saw that he was surrounded. His hand itched to reach for his banger but before he could follow up on it, he was snatched out of the car and thrown to the ground face-down.
When he heard clink clink and felt those steel cuffs around his wrist he regretted surrendering peacefully.
“You’re under arrest for murder in the first degree. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney the state will provide one for you...” recited a pale faced white boy as they snatched him up and roughly hauled him to a police car.