Kasheef shook his head and replied, “Nah, I don’t want Norelle to know I’m out yet. Ride by there though so I can peep something.”
As they approached the Long Island apartment community where Norelle resided Kasheef noticed a brand new Lexus sitting in Norelle’s assigned car port. Kasheef smirked and nodded his head as he took in the gleaming black paint of the luxury coupe. At least the bitch has good taste. I trained her well, he thought. If Kasheef had been any other man Norelle’s deception may have hurt, but Kasheef never let a woman get too close to his heart. It was one of the many reasons he’d never told Norelle that he loved her. He felt that he could only love something that was unflawed and since no human could ever be perfect he knew that to love someone would only be setting himself up for disappointment. His pride was wounded and his ego bruised, but his heart was intact. No tears, no lumps in the throat, or sharp pains in his stomach ... his emotional state was unfazed. He would still however make sure that Norelle got what was coming to her. He’d make sure of it. His ego would not allow him let it go. “Yo, you try’na make some quick paper?” he asked.
“You know I’m about my paper fam, whatever it is I’m with it,” Stick replied.
“It’s nothing big. Just tail her for a couple days. I need to know what she’s doing,” Kasheef said curiously as he eyed the bedroom window of Norelle’s place.
Stick replied, “Done.”
Kasheef had Stick take him to a stash house that no one knew about. On the outside it looked to be abandoned, but the inside was modern and plush. It was one of several locations where he kept loose money. His major cash was secure in untraceable accounts, but he had hundreds of thousands of dollars that had not yet been washed just laying around the city of New York. He pulled out $250,000 of dirty money. He reimbursed Stick for the bail money and gave him an extra ten stacks just because. He then had Stick drop him off at a car dealership where he quickly dropped $50,000 on a Lincoln Navigator. He then swept the mall for some fresh gear, some personal essentials, and a cell phone. At the end of the night, he checked into the Marriott in Midtown on Lexington and Fifty-first Street. As soon as he walked into the room he removed his clothes and hopped into the shower. He put his hands on the wall in front of him as he dropped his head and let the water caress his body. It had been almost a month since his arrest and he hadn’t showered comfortably in a while. He had never been to jail before this and now that he had been given a taste of what it was like he never wanted to go back. His freedom was something that he had taken for granted and if he was given a second chance he decided that he was going to utilize it by getting out of the dope game. Kasheef had been so accustomed to making fast money that he never got to enjoy it. His life had been a constant paper chase ever since he was a young boy and it took for him to get locked up to realize that it was not how he wanted to live his life. He wanted to enjoy each and everyday as if he would not see another sunrise. He needed to allow himself to feel again. The streets had hardened him and now he thought it was time for a change. He figured that he might open up a few businesses to give back a little bit of all that he had taken away by flooding the streets with heroine for so many years. He was only twenty-nine years old, but he was fourteen years strong in the game. Beginning his career as a hustler at age fifteen he was seasoned and skilled at what he did. Over the years he’d accumulated more than enough money to sit back and enjoy life. All you’ve got to do is get through this trial. He closed his eyes and flashes of what happened the night of Ahmad’s murder graced his brain. He could see it clear as day. It was like someone had pressed play to a movie—only this movie wasn’t scripted—it was a true story. He could’ve tried the self defense angle, but that would have been admitting that he’d actually killed a man and he didn’t think that a jury would be able to get past that fact, especially for a man like himself. Kasheef sighed and washed his body, staying underneath the stream of water until it turned cold. He thought of Alija and how afraid she had been the night of Ahmad’s death. He remembered how her body had shivered violently and he shook his head as he recalled how he had let her go home that night when all along he had known he should have killed her. I’ve got to talk to her, he thought to himself. If she is serious about changing her statement, I’ll cash her out tonight. He picked up his phone and dialed Carmen’s number. He had to find out where Alija was staying.
“Hello?” Carmen answered, her voice filled with a husky sleep.
“Carmen, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Kasheef said as he glanced at the clock. It was a little past midnight.
“Kasheef?” she asked as she sat straight up in her bed.
“Yeah, it’s me. I posted bail earlier today. Look I need the address where I can find Alija,” he said.
“Kasheef listen to me. I don’t think it’s wise that you go there. If anything happens to her you’ll be the first person the police will—”
Kasheef cut her off. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, but I have to talk to her. I need to hear her proposition for myself.” He heard silence fill the space between the phones. “Come on Carmen. I need this. This is my life ma.”
A reluctant sigh filled the phone and Carmen closed her eyes. She knew what might happen if she gave away the information, but the sound of desperation in Kasheef’s voice broke her down. She only hoped and prayed that Kasheef didn’t do anything stupid. “Okay,” she finally relented. “Okay, Kasheef. If you get caught or if anything happens to that girl, you didn’t get her information from me.”
“What information?” he asked, letting Carmen know he understood.
“She’s at the Motel 6 in Long Island, room nine.”
Kasheef hung up the phone and grabbed his keys and rushed out of the room. He had some unsettled business to handle.
“Nahla? Baby, what’s wrong?” Alija asked as she held her daughter and walked around the room trying to calm her down. Her daughter had been crying all day and she was beginning to worry. What started out as whimpers of discomfort were now screams of pain and Alija couldn’t get Nahla to quiet down. “You can’t be hungry,” Alija said sincerely. “I just fed you.” She checked Nahla’s diaper. “And you’re not wet.”
Whaaa!
Whaaa!
The crying was so loud that Alija’s eyes began to tear up in fear that something was seriously wrong with her daughter. She pulled out a thermometer from her daughter’s diaper bag and checked her temperature. “A hundred degrees?” Alija said in confusion. She put her hand to her baby’s forehead and sure enough Nahla was on fire. “Okay La-La,” Alija cooed calling her daughter by her nickname. “Okay ... we are going to get help right now,” she promised as she slipped her daughter into her winter wear. She didn’t even place her in her car seat, instead she held her daughter against her chest and grabbed the seat with her other hand as she headed out the door.
Whaaa! The crying was continuing to intensify. “I know sweetheart ... I know. Mommy’s going to make sure everything is okay, don’t cry.” She ran to her car and strapped her daughter inside. She was moving so fast that her hands were shaking. She slammed the back door and ran around to the driver’s door and hopped in, but when she went to turn her car over it wouldn’t start. “No! Not right now! Please start!” she yelled as she hit her steering wheel. After trying for ten minutes straight she decided to call an ambulance. She couldn’t just let her daughter suffer, especially when she didn’t know what was wrong. She jumped out of the car and grabbed Nahla out of the back seat.
Whaaa!
A car pulled up behind her as she fumbled to unlock her motel room and balance Nahla all at the same time.
Whaaa!
“Alija!” she heard a male voice call. She turned around and stared into the face of death himself ... at least to the man who had tried to bring death to her and her child.
Whaaa!
“No!” she screamed as she began to bump her motel room door with her shoulder. She finally got the door open and rushed into the room, but be
fore she could close it Kasheef had muscled his way inside the room.
Whaaa!
“Please ... please don’t hurt me! I won’t ...”
As soon as Kasheef saw the look in Alija’s eyes he instantly felt guilty. He could feel the fear radiating from her body. Her hands were shaking so violently that he was sure she would drop her child.
Whaaa!
“Shh! Shh!” Alija whispered in her baby’s ear as she backed away from Kasheef, putting the bed between them. “Please don’t—”
Kasheef put his hands up. “Calm down ma. I didn’t come here to hurt you,” he said in his most convincing voice.
Whaaa!
“Oh God, Nahla!” Alija cried. She was afraid for her life.
“Listen to me,” Kasheef yelled in frustration. “I didn’t come here to hurt you Alija. I just want to talk.”
Whaaa!
“Yo, she doesn’t sound good. Why is she screaming like that?” Kasheef asked.
Alija was reluctant to answer, but figured that if Kasheef had come to kill her that she would already be dead. “I ... I don’t know. She’s been crying all day and she’s running a temp. I was about to take her to the hospital, but my car ... it won’t start.”
Kasheef approached Alija with his hands still raised in front of him for her comfort. “Give her here,” he said as he took the baby from Alija’s arms.
“No! Please—” Alija begged as she reached for her daughter.
“Look, get her shit together! I’m not about to do shit to you girl! I’ll drive you to a hospital,” he stated firmly with authority.
Whaaa!
Alija nodded and grabbed the diaper bag. She went to her car and pulled out the car seat to transfer it to Kasheef ’s Navigator. Kasheef placed the child inside. “Get in,” he told Alija.
She did as she was told and Kasheef pulled off, burning rubber as he hit his gas in flight of the emergency room. Alija was silent and couldn’t believe that she was inside of Kasheef car. She still didn’t trust him, but he was her only hope of getting Nahla some help. When they arrived at the hospital she jumped out and rushed her daughter inside.
“Help me! Please! There is something wrong with my baby,” she told the nurse sitting behind the desk.
The nurse looked down at Nahla and by this time her face had a bluish tint to it. “What’s wrong with her?” Alija asked.
“Give her to me ... we’ll take care of her,” the nurse said as she tried to pry the little body from Alija.
“No, I want to go with her,” Alija cried.
Kasheef came up behind Alija and pulled her away. “Let them do their job ma,” he whispered in her ear. She let go and cried as she watched them put her baby on a stretcher and wheel her through the emergency doors.
“She has lead poisoning and pneumonia?” Alija asked in disbelief as she sat beside her daughter’s tiny bed in the hospital. “How? I mean how did she get it?”
The doctor nodded and replied, “If she’s been in an environment where there is old paint on the walls. Maybe a daycare, or restaurant, even your own home may have some old layers of poisonous lead-based paint on the walls it can affect her immune system. She is young so her lungs are not as resistant to infection as an adult’s would be. Fluid can build up easily in an unsafe environment, especially in an area that is infected with lead.”
“But she’s going to be okay, right?” Alija asked.
“Yes. After a little bit of time, she is going to be fine. It is a good thing you brought her in when you did. If she’d gone over night with that much lead in her blood she may have died. Just hearing those words made Alija cry out in pain. She couldn’t imagine life without her daughter and she had to take a minute to gain her composure.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she wiped her nose with a tissue the doctor offered.
“It’s quite all right Ms. Bell. We’ll keep Nahla for a couple weeks so that we can rejuvenate her lungs and immune system, but she will be perfectly healthy after that,” the doctor said. “We do, however, need for you to fill out your insurance information so that we can bill the company for her treatment.”
“I don’t have any—” before Alija could finish her sentence, Kasheef who had been standing near the doorway interjected.
“We’ll pay cash.”
“Okay then, the accountant at the front desk will take care of you,” the doctor said. “I’ll give you both a minute with your daughter, but visiting hours are over. You can’t stay long.”
Alija nodded and the doctor exited the room. Alija looked at her daughter and stroked her tiny hand. “Thank you Kasheef. If it wasn’t for you—” she whispered without looking his way.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, interrupting her. They both stayed in the room for another half an hour before the hospital staff came in to put them out. As promised, Kasheef paid Nahla’s medical bills and then escorted Alija out of the building. When they were inside his truck he said, “I didn’t come to hurt you tonight.”
“Why did you send those dudes to my house to kill me?” she asked. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I only went to the police after I felt my life was in danger.”
“I apologize,” he said as he drove through the city streets. “I was being selfish, trying to save my own neck.”
“My daughter was in the house that night Kasheef! I’ll do anything to protect her,” she said.
“I know. I realize that,” he responded.
“How did she get lead poisoning?” Alija asked herself aloud.
“Probably that fucking rat hole you living out of,” Kasheef commented.
“I was hiding out from you. It was all I could afford,” she replied smartly as she rolled her eyes. She noticed that they were driving away from Long Island. She began to panic and without hesitation she punched Kasheef in the side of his face.
“Aghh!” he bellowed as his hand went up to his right eye and his truck swerved. Alija kept swinging, until he pulled over the car and reached over to restrain her. “What the fuck is wrong with you girl?” he asked.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked. “You’re trying to kill me!”
“Girl, ain’t nobody trying to kill your ass,” he replied as he flipped up his sun visor and looked into the mirror at his damaged eye.
“Then where are we going?” she asked breathing hard as she looked at him suspiciously.
“I was taking you to a better hotel. I didn’t want you to have to take your little girl back to the same place where she got sick,” he said.
“Oh,” she said, feeling stupid.
“Yeah oh mu’fucka,” he chastised. He shook his head and looked in his car mirror at his throbbing eye. “Sit ya’ ass back,” he said as he smirked at her. “I said I’m not going to hurt you.”
She did as she was told and calmed down while he completed their drive. They pulled up to the same hotel where he was staying. He purchased another room and they rode the elevator to the twentieth floor. Alija reluctantly followed him inside the room and he handed her the key.
“Make yourself at home. You can stay as long as you’d like. It’s on my credit card so they’ll just keep charging it until you check out,” he explained.
She looked around the luxury room and was grateful that he had checked her into a better environment. The 700 thread count sheets and marble bathroom floors were a drastic change from the likes of Motel 6. “What did you come to my motel for? I thought you were still locked up,” she said as she sat down at the table.
“I posted bail today. My lawyer came to see me about the offer you made. I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said. “Are you really willing to go through with it?”
“Look, I don’t want you to think I’m some money hungry hood rat, but I’ve got to look out for my daughter. She means everything to me and you took what little security I had in my life away from me. If you pay me the money, I’ll get up there and say that you are not the man who killed Ahmad,” she promised.
&nb
sp; Kasheef stared at the girl and was reminded of how magnetic she had seemed the first night he had met her. The same night he’d shot Ahmad. “Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” she looked up in surprise.
“I’ll pay you the money. I’m not trying to go to prison for the rest of my life. I know you saw what went down. It was either him or me, so I don’t regret what I did. I am sorry you had to witness it though,” Kasheef said. “And I’m sorry about sending them niggas in your crib.” His words were sincere in his apology because he meant everything he said. He made his way to the door. “I’ll drop off the first half of the money tomorrow morning. You’ll get the other half after you take the stand. I’m in 2106 if you need to get with me.”
Alija nodded and smiled graciously as she walked him to the door. “Thank you Kasheef ... for not killing me I mean,” she joked.
“Thank you,” he replied with a smirk as he pointed to the tiny black bruise she’d left near his eye. “For the black eye.”
She closed the door behind him and a sense of relief washed over her body. She slid her back down the door until her bottom reached the floor. “Thank God,” she whispered. “Now all I have to do is make it through this trial.”
Chapter Ten
Alija slept comfortably in the lavish hotel room and when the sun peeked through the curtains she didn’t want to get up. It was the most rest she had gotten in a while and her body thanked her graciously for the change in atmosphere. The luxurious concierge room was significantly grander than the motel she had been hiding out in. She stretched her body as she yawned and slowly arose from the bed. Opening the curtains, she looked down onto the busy New York streets beneath her as sunlight streamed into her room. It was amazing to her how her life could be in shambles, yet everything in the world still ticked on normally as if she was not hanging onto her sanity by a thread. She wondered if any of the people below her could possibly have a life as complicated as her own. A knock at the door startled her and she turned to the intruding sound in annoyance. It’s only 8:00 ... why is housekeeping knocking this early? She thought as she went to answer it. She pulled the door open, ready to cuss somebody out, but to her surprise, Kasheef stood fully dressed and dapper as ever in hood gear.
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