More Pain, Pleasure and Lies

by Qiana London

  “Dez—”

  “Nuh uh, I’m good.”

  She kicked her leg in frustration and freed the jeans from around her ankle, pulled her shirt over her head, and removed her bra. I watched as she walked over to the shower and turned on the faucet. I decided not to press the issue. We would revisit this conversation later. I bent down slowly, pulled my pants back up, and fastened my belt. Once Dezzy stepped into the shower, I checked my appearance in the mirror, quickly washed my hands, and walked out of the bathroom. I gently closed the door behind me and headed over to my bedroom door. When I opened it, I was relieved to see that Melanie was no longer standing there. The situation was already awkward enough.

  As I walked down the stairs, I saw Melanie working on her laptop while Snow and Fatima sat rather close to one another on the couch. Indya was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar talking to my brother. She had pulled herself together, and was hanging on to Craig’s every word. I could only imagine the shit that he was saying to her. I knew how he could be, and judging by the look on Indya’s face, he could definitely get it if he really wanted it. Craig’s back was to me,so he didn’t see me coming.

  “It’s all bullshit,” I chimed in, chuckling.

  Indya smirked and shook her head.

  “Really, bruh? You gonna do a nigga like that?”

  “Yep, just like that,” I spoke matter-of-factly.

  “See? That’s that shit right there.”

  He still hadn’t turned around to face me, but instead, he used his thumb to point at me over his shoulder while he spoke to her. I chuckledand didn’t pay him any attention. But I knew that he hadn’t come all the way out here to run game. Normally, I wouldn’t block, but I knew my brother was no good.

  “I know you didn’t come all of this way just to talk shit.What’s good,little brother?”

  I waited while he spoke briefly to Indya.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I actually do have some business to take care of with my brother. Let me get your number, though,so we can continue this conversation later.”

  I shook my head and headed into the kitchen to grab a beer while my brother finished talking shit to Indya. I grabbed one for him too and then headed toward the balcony door.

  “Meet me outside when you’re ready,” I told Craig.

  I held the bottles with one hand and used my free hand to slide the balcony door open. I placed one of the beers on the coffee table and carried the other one with me over to the balcony railing. I looked out at the view and took everything in. I inhaled deeply, held my breath, and exhaled slowly while I opened my Heineken. I brought the bottle to my lips, turned it up, and took several swallows.

  “Damn, don’t hurt yo’self.”

  I stopped drinking and looked over my shoulder. Craig slid the glass door closed before he walked over to the table and picked up his beer. He opened it and paused a moment to take in the view too.

  “I see why you like it out here. It’s peaceful and shit.”

  I laughedat my brother’s way with words. “Yeah, it’s a nice change of pace from an otherwise chaotic life.”

  “Man, you ain’t never lied. I know firsthand how chaotic shit can be.”

  I chuckled, but I didn’t respond. I turned back around, sipped my beer,and continued to stare out at the view. I didn’t mind the small talk. I knew that Craig would eventually get around to why he was really here. “So,you squashed that shit, huh?”

  “I had to. Once I openedthat can of worms, I couldn’t just walk away.”

  “I heard that. I normally would mind my own business, but when those bitches tried to come for me,I had to get in that ass. I still can’t believe I trusted that nigga, Wayne,” Craig said in disbelief.

  “I didn’t like him from day one.”

  “Yeah, I know. I should have let you put hands on him. I should’ve known something was up when you responded the way you did.You’ve alwaysbeen able to spot bullshit.”

  “But you didn’t need me. You handled that all on your own.”

  “Yeah, I handled his ass for damn sure. He fucked up when hecrossed me.”

  I nodded in agreement and sipped more of my beer. “I appreciate your assist on that,by the way,” I added.“How did you know what was going to go down?”

  “Like I’ve said before, even when I’m not around, I have eyes and ears on the street. I got word that Diandre and his goons were up to some shit so I asked around. I used to fuck the bitch that Wayne rolled up with inthat parking lot. She’s still sprung, so I fucked her again and she told me what he was planning,” he explained.“Plus I had crossed paths with Tay. He told me what was up, and then I just connected the dots.”

  He was very nonchalant. I laughed.

  “Damn, little brother. By any means necessary, huh?”

  “Hey, I handled business and got some pussy in the process. It’s a win-win, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I replied and laughed.

  He drank more of his beer and stepped closer to me so that he could lower his voice.

  I turned to face him and gave him my undivided attention.“What’s good?”

  “The Feds hit my shit.”

  “Word?”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t there when it happened, but you know word travels fast.”

  I nodded and then polished off my beer.

  “My shit got shut all the way down, and now they’re looking for me. I need to disappear for a little while until things cool down. Once things are good, I can set up shop again someplace else.”

  I shook my head. Craig was smart and had so much more potential than to live a risky life offast money that he’d become accustomed to.

  “Why don’t you come and work with me? The money is on point, and you won’t have to run from the law. I’m sure you don’t want to do this for the rest of your life.”

  “You want me to work for you? Shiiiit.”

  “I said work withme. You can use those street smarts for good.”

  He didn’t respond. He looked out at the view and appeared to be giving serious thought to my offer.

  “I don’t know, big brother. I ain’t really with that square shit.”

  “Who are you calling square?”

  We stared at each other without speaking and then we started laughing. I wasn’t really offended. But there was no denying the fact that we were different.

  “I ain’t saying no, but I ain’t saying yeah either. Let me think about it.” Craig finally said. “Anyway, I wanted to holler at you because they froze up my money. I’m not worried about me because I’m good.I’ve got a little something tucked away. But they fucked with Autumn’s money too. Even though her shit is legit, they aren’t letting her have access to anything until they can verify it.They can fuck with me all they want, but you know I don’t play when it comes to my wife.”

  I nodded my head. Craig did his dirt, but he never let it find its way back to his wife. He loved herand there wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for her.

  “What do you need?”

  “Well, I know you’ve got some connects with people in high places. Can you help clear this shit up for her? I gave her some cash to hold on to, but when I disappear for a while,I need to know that she’s going to be good.”

  “Let me see what I can do. And you know if Autumn needs anything, all shehas to do is ask. I have no problem holding things down for you while you’re away.”

  “Fa sho,” Craig replied, extending his right hand.

  Our hands connected and we pulled each other into a brotherly hug.

  “Family first,” I said.

  “Always.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Yeah, can you help me get out of the country unnoticed?”

  “Let me holler at Melanie. That’s her area of expertise.”

  “Bet.”

  I still owed Craig a favor for helping me out with the Judge Greene situation. So not only was I going to see about getting things resolved for his wife, I was goin
g to see if I could get his name cleared too. My hope was that if he could start fresh, then he might change his lifestyle altogether. I decided to keep my plan to myself and work on things in the background. I waited while he finished his beer and then we headed back inside.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I took the next several days to do absolutely nothing. The break was exactly what I needed. It was adequate time for me to get my head right and prepare for the next assignment, which was where I was headed. I had received a call from Melanie informing me to meet her and Snow at a used car dealership in Oakland so that we could discuss details. I thought that the location was odd, but I also knew that if Melanie told me to go there, she had a reason. As I parked across the street from the shop, I saw her and Snow outside in the lot talking to a car salesperson. They looked at a Prius and then walked in the direction of a MINI Cooper. They sounded like they were negotiating as I casually strolled over to them. Melanie turned to acknowledge me first.

  “Hey, babe,” she said and casually gestured for me to come closer.“I’m glad you could make it.”

  I walked and stood next to her, but Ididn’t respond. She took my hand in hers and laced her fingers through mine before she turned her attention back to the salesman.

  “I told you I like to be thorough, Rodney. I’ve brought my mechanic along, and now my boyfriend is here too. Between the two of them, I’m sure that I’ll make the right decision.”

  She gave my hand a subtle squeeze, so I knew to play along. I glanced at Snow who gave me a knowing nod. Melanie released my hand and walked closer to the MINI Cooper.

  She turned to look at me and asked me. “Which one do you like better? This one or that Prius over there?”

  She pointed at the vehicle a few cars down the row.

  I fell into character right away. “I like what you like as long as you get something that’s reliable. I only ask that you get something that’s safe and gets good gas mileage.”

  “Well,then you can’t go wrong with either of these,” Rodney promised us.

  Then he went into his pitch on the features of both cars. The MINI Cooper was higher in price, so he pushed that one harder. But I also knew that he would be happy to sell either one. Melanie walked around the perimeter of the car as he continued. While Rodney’s back was to her, she got my attention by waving her hand. She looked at him and back at me without speaking. I knew that was her way of telling me to pay attention. I immediately shifted gears and took a greater interest in the man standing before me. I didn’t recognize him, but I made mental notes of his appearance. He was a tall, slim brother with fair skin, a bald head, and full beard. His tattoos were slightly exposed even though he’d tried to cover them up with his button-down shirt. Judging by the poor quality of the work, he had been tatted on the inside while he served time. He was rough around the edges and appeared to have a slight chip on his shoulder. But he tried his best to be professional.

  “I’ll tell you what. Let me go and get the keys, so you can take them both for a test drive.”

  “Yes, I’d like that,” Melanie responded.“But I’ll let him drive because he has a knack for knowing what’s happening under the hood of a car by the way it rides,” she explained, pointing to Snow.

  “As long as he has a valid driver’s license, it’s all good.” Rodney walked toward the main office.

  Once he was inside, I turned my attention to my team.“So,what’s the deal?”

  “That’s Rodney Collins. He’s a key player in an on-going car theft scheme. The owner of the dealership was contacted by law enforcement regarding the activity at his establishment, and of course,he’d had no idea what they were talking about. So they gave him a pass and promised leniency if he agreed to provide his full cooperation. They wanted to catch Rodney in the act. He had been scamming for a while, but they could never pin a theft on him. They thought they were close before, but he was able to convince his girlfriend to take the rap for him, so he was never officially charged. Apparently, Rodney’s girlfriend, Stacey, was madly in love with him and there was nothing that she wouldn’t do for him. Allegedly, she was in a female gang and had murdered a girl several months back over him after he got caught cheating. She was serving time down in Chowchilla.”

  “Shiiiiit. There ain’t that much love in the world,” Snow interjected.

  I nodded in agreement. “So,what’s he into? How is he stealing cars?”

  “The police thinkthat he’s working with some car rental companies along with members of this female gang. He usually identifies an accomplice and convinces the person to rent a car for a few days by promising a kickback from his profit. When the person rents the car, the individual also purchases insurance from the rental company that fully covers the car. While the rental is in the accomplice’s possession, it is stolen by the gang. The person doesn’t know when or where the robbery will happen, but they know that it will at some point. The whole idea is to keep the person in the dark so that he doesn’t appear to be an accessory to the crime and that makes the theft seem authentic. The renter gets off the hook because they would have shelled out the money for insurance to fully cover the car in the event that something happens. The rental company is pretty much forced to take the loss because manylaw enforcement agencies don’t make reports of car rental theft a priority because it’s so complicated. Meanwhile, the stolen car is taken to a chop shop where it is dismantled. The parts are either sold or the VIN number is switched. If the car remains intact, it gets shipped overseas or sold at a used car dealership.”

  “Damn, that’s pretty clever,” I acknowledged. “So Rodney is stealing cars, dabbling in insurance fraud, and falsifying documents.”

  “Yeah, but a while back,he didn’t deliver on a promise to one of his accomplices, and ole boy started singing like a canary. He cut a deal with authorities for his involvement in the scam, and our boys in blue havebeen watching him ever since.”

  “So where do wecome in?”

  “I was contacted by the owner of the dealership. He wants our help so that he can get rid of Rodney and get his business out of jeopardy. This dealership is all that he has and hedoesn’t want to lose it.”

  “Do you think the owner is really clean?” Snow asked.“I meanhe didn’t have any suspicions? Where did he think the cars were coming from?”

  “Well, most of his cars are legit. The dealership gets its inventory through auctions and trade ins. He thought the stolen cars had come from trade-ins that were made throughhis employees’ transactions with individual customers. He claimed that he only discovered the truth later,” Melanie explained.“He saysthat he really didn’t know.”

  Snow nodded his head slowly. We all had pretty good instincts. But we weren’t hired to determine whether or not the owner was dirty. He had requested our help, and that is what we needed to focus our attention on.

  “Honestly, it doesn’t matter. We should just direct our energy on what we’ve been hired to do.”

  “I feel the same way,” Melanie agreed.

  “So how are we going to get this done?” I asked.

  “We’re going to bait him.I’m not going to purchaseanything today, but I’m going to keep the lines of communication open so that we can build rapport.Eventually, I’ll proposition him with referrals in exchange for a better deal.”

  “Okay. And then what?”

  “We wait.”

  “You lost me.”

  “Part of his con is pushing the stolen rentals on people. He will offer a deep discount to buyers who are willing to pay cash for their vehicles off the books from him as a private seller as opposed to through the dealership. By doing so, the buyer accepts full responsibility for taking care of all the paperwork associated with the transfer of ownership the same way they would ifthey’d purchased the car from an individual seller. He makes a hefty profit that doesn’t have to be shared with the dealership, and the buyer gets a functioning car for a steal of a deal.”

  “Pun intended?” Snow joked.
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  “Of course,” Melanie replied.“Unfortunately, by the time the buyer realizes that they’ve purchased a stolen car,it’s too late. They’ve lost their money, and the dealership can’t be held responsible because there is no record of the purchase.”

  “That’s fucked up,” Snow scoffed.

  “Yeah, it is. And to make matters worse, hepreys on undocumented immigrants. They don’t usually bother with trying to fight back because they don’t want to risk being deported.”

  I shook my head in disgust.

  “Eventually, I’ll send some referrals his way that are operating undercover for us, and when the time is right,we’ll make our move.”

  Rodney came back outside and raised both arms to show that he had the keys to the cars in his hands as he walked toward us.

  “For now, we’re gonna play nice and do some test driving. When we’re done here, we’llall head over to Fatima’s place and get her squared away like we previously discussed.”

  Now that Rodney was with us again, we shifted the conversation and got back into character.

  “Are y’allready to get moving?” he asked.

  “Yep!” Melanie replied.“Let’s take the MINI Cooper first.” She opened the passenger door.

  Rodney passed the keys to Snow,who then hopped in the driver’s seat. Rodney and I both got into the backseat, and then we were on our way.

  *****

  I arrived atFatima’s house first. Instead of heading inside, I waited in the car for Melanie and Snow to arrive. I used the time to return phone calls. I had been playing phone tag with my good friend, Dallas,who was the lawyer I’d hired to help me with Craig’s situation.

  “Hey, Khalil. This was perfect timing. You caught me right before I headed into a meeting with a client. I looked into the situation with your sister-in-law. There really isn’t solid evidence to charge her with anything,so it should be relatively easy to prove her innocence. I’ve been in touch with her and informed her to remain patient and avoid speaking with anyone. She is protected by spousal privilege, so she should be fine. As for your brother, I was able to review his record. Thegood news is that he’seligible for expungement. The not so great news is that filing the petition can take some time. I’m going to call in some favors from a few friends to see if we can speed things along, but I wanted to be completely transparent with you. I need to be clear that this isn’t an overnight process.”