After Rodney got comfortable having me around, he started explaining his hustle to me. He sold heroin, which I wasn’t familiar with at that time. He took me with him to abandoned houses on Marshall Avenue early in the mornings and showed me how people would line up to get “the fix”. He had a few young boys handling business, so all he did was pick up money. He was seeing about a grand per week for his activities. This was a lot to me but with all the people I saw lined up, I thought he should be getting way more than that, until he explained that he had to pay a lot of workers in shifts and it was hard for him to find the good heroin.
My mind started to work in overdrive after I learned the ropes. I talked to Tammy a lot because I knew she knew a lot about the streets. She told me her brother Trey had dealt with heroin before, but it was too risky in New York because everybody knew his daily routine when he moved heroin. I told her to holla at Trey and get some prices for me for different weights. Within two days, Tammy had the prices. She quoted me $2500 for an ounce, $9,000 for four and a half ounces, and $17,000 for nine ounces. I found out that Rodney was paying $5,000 an ounce for the stuff he was getting.
Tammy liked to discuss the drug game, because it reminded her of her days in Brooklyn when she’d watch her brothers do their thing. After much discussion, we made a major decision on December 25, 1994. Tammy and I were gonna try our hand at the heroin game, but Tammy would be the silent half of the entire set up. Rodney knew I was up to something because I started asking a lot of questions about how to cut the heroin and how much to put in each bag.
After the Christmas holidays were over, me and Tammy took a trip up to Brooklyn in my ‘92 Sentra. It was the first time I met her brothers face to face. We had spoken on the phone a few times, but that was the extent of our relationship. All of them turned out to be cooler than I expected.
Tim, the number man, reminded me a lot of my brother Cory because he was super quick with math. Maurice and Tony looked like they were straight out of a Biggie video. They represented BK with the Timbs, jewelry, and big clothes. Reggie was quiet most of the time and he didn’t talk with long sentences. Trey was different from the rest. He wore prescription looking glasses and dressed like he was from Harlem instead of Brooklyn. He wore a watch but no other jewelry, and he moved around quietly.
Tammy had already told them a lot about me because they were telling me things about myself without even asking me. They felt like my extended family and they knew that Tammy and I were like sister and brother. They didn’t strike me as being overly concerned about Tammy’s involvement in criminal activities though.
Trey and I spent most of the time conversating and going to a few spots together. He took me to the Bronx off the Bronx Expressway, not far from the Yankee’s stadium. There I got hands-on experience on how to cut heroin with Benita, how to package bundles, and how to get rid of the heroin in case of emergencies. I also learned how much I should make from each ounce I broke down.
After two days in New York, it was time for me and Tammy to return to Virginia so I could get to work and so she could get back to school. I had $1500 on me to give to Trey until I got the next $1,000 so I could purchase my first ounce of heroin. However, Trey told me to keep my money and he gave me two ounces of heroin to get started with. He said the dope could stand a seven, but to only put a five on it to get started. A seven meant that you could cut the dope seven times—make one ounce into seven ounces—and it would still be potent enough for those who used it. I also got all of the Benita I needed to cut the dope with and Reggie gave Tammy two desert Eagles, a P89 Ruger and one Mosberg shotgun with the pistol grips for protection. She also had enough ammo to last for months.
I told Trey I’d be seeing him as soon as the stuff was sold. We worked out a plan to have Tammy meet him halfway in Delaware for the next few trips so we wouldn’t get into a routine of seeing one another. Tammy and I headed back to VA on January 2, 1995 with big ambitions. We discussed everything that needed to be done to lay our foundation. We decided that we would have to move out of our parent’s houses soon before things got major. The next day I spoke to Rodney about putting me down with some of the young boys he knew that were reliable workers. We recruited a few young cats from Woodsong Apartments on Marshall Avenue.
I told Rodney that we should start the takeover on 14th Street off Jefferson and as clientele increased; we could start moving back towards 76th Street where he stayed. He was down with that because not only would he save money, but he had someone with him he could trust. We turned those two ounces into ten ounces, busted them down into bundles and stamped the label “Lifesavers” on our bags. Word spread so fast about our dope, we had to set up shop in four different abandoned houses between 14th and 25th Streets.
We made $10,000 from each ounce using the tricks that Trey had taught me. It took three days to move all ten ounces, working an hour in the morning, an hour around noon and an hour in the evening. Sometimes the lines were so long, we had to direct traffic to other places.
Tammy found a new development that was being built in Hampton called Signature Place that she thought would be a good spot to move to. I told her we also needed another spot that only she and I knew about. So, we agreed on a place called Derby Run near Magruder Boulevard where they had some new condos in the back. Everything was moving so fast and in the right direction, that we got both places on the day the last ounce was sold.
I had the Signature Place spot furnished the same day from Grand Furniture. I got a leather sectional, big screen TVs, and two bedroom sets that ran me about $6,000 but I had Tammy finance it with $1,000 down. Rodney didn’t know about Tammy’s involvement, so she stayed at our spot at Derby Run and I’d always meet Rodney at Signature Place to discuss business.
After selling the last ounce, the first thing on the agenda was to count the cash and then decide the next move. We ended up with $88,000 dollars in cash from three days work after we paid the workers. We had eight workers that we paid $500 dollars each per day for working the lines and the area between 14th and 25th Streets off of Jefferson Avenue.
I told Rodney that we owed the connect $5,000 dollars and then we could decide what to do next. That was the last time we thought about Smith’s Packaging Company. We were on our way to being very well off, and nothing was gonna stop us. We put aside $23,500 to pay the connect the $5,000 we owed, buy nine more ounces for $17,500, and finance the trip to get the dope, which cost $1,000. That left $64,500 to split down the middle. Rodney never asked about the connect or where the connect was at, and I never told him. We decided not to celebrate until we had things moving like clockwork. I told Rodney he should seriously think about moving from 76th Street but he insisted on staying on 76th Street for a while.
I got to Derby Run about twelve midnight after that meeting with Rodney. Tammy had chosen Haynes to furnish the condo at Derby Run and it was nothing short of immaculate. The condo had a two-car garage and two master suites with a loft that Tammy converted into a little business room. So many things were happening that I wasn’t even thinking about our little living arrangement. Tammy and I were in the same house, but we had separate master bedrooms. I was too focused on the task at hand to be thinking about pussy.
I walked in and dropped my book bag on the dining room table. She opened it and saw all those stacks with rubber bands wrapped around them. I told her it was about $56,000 dollars, but we needed to use some to re-up with. She asked how much money Rodney had gotten, and when I told her, she said she couldn’t believe we’d made that much money off of two ounces of heroin. I told her to call her brother Trey and let him know we wanted to buy nine more ounces and that we had the money for the two ounces we’d gotten at first. She left early the next morning to meet Trey in Delaware. The word on the street was that Rodney had gotten a hold of some powerful shit called Lifesavers that was putting fiends in the hospital.
For two days, everyone on the streets of Newport News were looking for those yellow bags that had the Lifesavers stam
p. What we didn’t know was that our competition between Oak and Roanoke Avenues had lost customers at a major pace for the three days we’d invaded Bad Newz. Two brothers named Frank and Terry controlled the heroin that moved through those parts, but it was no match for the shit we put out. They knew Rodney, but never thought he was a threat because he usually only sold a little weight throughout the month. Once they kept hearing his name, they decided they would approach him about his newfound dope.
Rodney liked to hang at a strip club called The Katt off of Warwick Boulevard around midnight, and it was no secret. Frank and Terry pulled up in a black on black 740i BMW and went inside the club. Rodney was playing pool in the corner when Frank approached and picked up the eight ball. Frank looked around while Terry did the talking. He told Rodney that he’d better plug him in to the connect or find a new occupation. Rodney was known around Newport News for busting his gun if need be, but Frank and Terry had money, so they were well respected. Rodney also never went anywhere without a few young soldiers ready to snap on command and today was no different. At a table on the opposite end of the bar sat four goons who had guns bigger than Frank and Terry, that were tucked discreetly under their waists. The goons approached the pool table on instinct and Frank and Terry politely told Rodney to think over the offer and they left.
The trip went well with Tammy and she was back within seven hours. All the cutting and bagging up was done at Signature Place by Rodney and me with latex gloves and face masks on. He told me about his run in with Frank and Terry. Since we were putting a seven on the dope we’d just gotten, I told Rodney that we should sell Frank and Terry some weight and expand our operation from 14th to 36th Street between Marshall and Jefferson Avenues. That way, Frank and Terry would be happy and we’d be indirectly supplying all of downtown Newport News. Rodney wasn’t with giving Frank and Terry shit, so we went ahead and put our Lifesavers out on a Friday and we had to hire more workers to keep up with demand. By Sunday, we had fifteen houses with lines of people waiting to get those yellow bags. We had to shut down shop early most of the time because the crowds were borderline ridiculous.
Rodney and I had to hit all fifteen houses three times a day to collect the cash. Each house was doing three broken down ounces per day—in less than three hours total. We sold sixty-three ounces in less than two days. The money was literally in garbage bags in the living room at Signature Place. We’d made over $500,000 off of the nine ounces we’d bought. We were now paying our workers $1,000 a day and we had at least three workers per house. After the workers were paid, we still had $450,000 cash.
Two of our dope houses were shot up following one of our morning rushes. Word traveled quick that Frank was responsible, so it was time to deal with the threat. Rodney and I talked it over once we split the $450,000 down the middle. A quarter million of your own money will make you feel almost untouchable if you’re not used to having dough.
We decided we were gonna chill, take a vacation for a few days and then get back to work. I talked to Tammy and we concluded that the brothers had to be dealt with before they interfered with our progress. I had an old friend from Granger Court off Aberdeen who I used to hang with a few years back. His name was Eric and he specialized in sending messages. I contacted him, told him my situation and what I needed done. His quote was $5,000, so I told him he’d get $2500 before I left on vacation and $2500 once I returned.
Rodney and I decided to hit Miami Beach up since the weather was cool everywhere else on the East Coast. He brought a stripper friend of his named Carla and I brought Tammy. We rented suites at the Double Tree on Collins Avenue for seven days and nights. It was the first time Tammy and I were together in the same room. The first night we all went to a strip club called “Rolex” in Northwest Miami.
There were forty naked broads from wall to wall, but all I could think about was Tammy. The girls were all over Tammy and Carla while Rodney and I drank bottles of Moet and Dom P like they were Coronas. By the time the cab got us back to the hotel, everybody was drunk. Tammy and I stumbled into our room and fell on the bed. It was late, but people were still walking up and down Collins Avenue.
I got up and turned the shower on to get my mind right. I hadn’t even been in the shower for five minutes when suddenly Tammy stepped in behind me and started washing my back. She washed my butt and the back of my legs before she told me to turn around. I knew when I turned around what I was gonna see, but it still didn’t prepare me; her body and the glow on her skin was mesmerizing. She turned around and handed me the soap so I could wash her back. I slid my finger across her asshole while I was washing her butt to see if she would stop me. She never flinched, so I put the soap down and started massaging her shoulders and back. She said it’d be easier to give her a massage if she laid on her stomach, so we got out of the shower and went to the bed.
She never bothered to get a towel, so neither did I. She laid on her stomach and instead of starting at her shoulders, I started at her feet. I slowly massaged each foot and I could tell she was getting excited, because her hips were slowly rocking up and down. I started slowly moving up her legs as I rubbed, until I reached the back of her thighs. I spread her legs apart so I could massage her inner thighs and get a good look at that pretty pussy.
Even though we had been in the shower, I knew the moisture drips inside her pussy lips wasn’t from the water. I slowly slid two fingers down her back, across her butt, and over those beautiful pink, wet, pussy lips. Once I rubbed her clit, she rose up on her knees so I could slide my fingers back and forth over her pussy. By this time, I was rock hard, but I didn’t wanna just fuck her like I did other girls. I moved my hand and guided her hands to her pussy so she could play with her clit.
She did it with no hesitation, and I started licking the insides of her pussy. She was moaning and I didn’t think I could hold out much longer without fucking. She started sliding her fingers inside her wet pussy, me being the freak that I am, I immediately started licking her asshole. She came and each time she came, one of her legs would shake uncontrollably. We ended up falling asleep just after that, without me fucking, but the funny thing was, I didn’t mind.
The next six days were definitely fun-filled. We spent most of our time going to dinner on Ocean Drive or shopping on Lincoln. The girls enjoyed the beach and the shopping the most. We rented two Ferrari’s one day for $1500 each and we just drove all over Miami sightseeing. At night, Tammy and I would walk the beach discussing our business plans for the future. We never discussed our relationship or how it may affect things in the future. Although we got drunk a few more times while in Miami, we never ended up having sex, most nights we’d fall asleep talking to one another.
Before we knew it, it was time to return home. We landed at Norfolk International Airport at 6 pm from our layover in Atlanta. Rodney had left his Lex at the airport, so we piled up in it with all of the new bags from our trip. The girls had luggage, but Rodney and I had only brought book bags to Miami. The trip probably set us both back about ten G’s, but it was well worth it.
After we returned, we were now more focused than ever on expanding our operation. We knew Newport News was too small to hold us, so soon we’d have to find more areas to move the dope. My first priority was to get in touch with Eric, so once we got to Signature Place, that’s exactly what I did. It only took one minute to realize that shit had hit the fan while we were away. Evidently, Frank was fucking the same female Eric was supposedly fucking, on the low. Eric got carried away with his pillow talk to that female on the night before he was going to do something to Frank and Terry.
The girl went back and warned the brothers that Eric would be coming to pay a little visit on Roanoke Avenue. When Eric arrived with his five goons to kick in the door, automatic weapons started shooting everywhere. Ten of Frank’s soldiers came from behind the house spraying bullets. The gun battle went from Roanoke to Oak Avenue. When the dust cleared, three of Eric’s goons were dead, Eric was hit in the thigh and a five year-o
ld who was riding his big wheel on the sidewalk was in critical condition from a stray. It didn’t take a genius to know that there wouldn’t be any dope sold anytime soon around Newport News.
There were more police in the area than a presidential visit. I told Eric to get better and that I’d pay him the other half even though he’d fucked up majorly. He did tell me that the girl that leaked the info to Frank was from “The Manor” and her name was Tasha. I got off the phone and let Rodney know the bad news. He decided he was gonna find a new spot to live because 76th Street would be hot if his name got mentioned in the mess. Rodney ended up moving out to Signature Place with his man Anthony who had gotten into that brawl at Denny’s in ‘93. Evidently, Anthony was playing ball in college somewhere but he needed a place to chill when he came home for breaks. Their spot was four houses down from mine, but no one knew my shit was just a day spot. Every weekend that Anthony was home, they had girls all over the place over there. Every now and then, I’d go over there and chill for a minute with everyone.
We had over $200,000 apiece, so we could afford to lay low and organize a new plan. Tammy and I left and went to our condo in Derby Run. I filled her in on everything on the way to the crib; she couldn’t believe how quick things had went from sugar to shit. We both knew that there was only one Tasha in “The Manor” that could pull off something like this.
I hadn’t seen or spoken to Isaac in over eight months, but now was the time to contact him. Isaac graduated after he attended summer school in ‘94 and he had a job at the McDonald’s on Semple Farm Road right up the street from Derby Run. He still lived on the old side of the Manor and he was still messing with Tasha. I called and told him I’d come visit him on his lunch break at work since he was on his way in. I got to McDonald’s just as his break was starting and we walked outside and talked. He said the Manor was buzzing about me supposedly getting big money now. Evidently, some broads working at Hects in the mall had seen me spending money on a regular basis.
True Consequences Page 2