by Baker, T. N.
Exiting the building, Ness walked past them as calm as possible.
He'd been arrested enough times to know that a reaction or the slightest sign of discomfort is what they look for. Just as he had reached nearly 20 feet from the car, a voice called out to him.
"Hey boy, where you coming from?" an officer asked. Ness, shitting bricks, managed to remain calm and speak without showing any signs of nervousness.
"I'm coming from my girlfriend's house. Is there a problem Sir?"
"Well I don't know, is there? It's pretty early in the morning boy, where are you heading to? Did your girlfriend and you have a fight, 'cause that's a big ol' bag you got there." "It's just some dirty clothes I'm taking over to the laundro-mat. You know, underwears, socks and tees; would you like to take a look Sir?" he said unzipping the bag just enough to expose the dirty clothes he had lying on top of the coke. Ness was scared shitless, but he had to take his chances hoping it would throw him off.
"No, that's okay son, by the way what did you say you your name was again," asked the officer just as he was headed back towards the building.
"It's Calvin, Calvin Greene, sir," he said smiling and lying his ass off. He knew damn well he never asked his name in the first place.
"Would you happen to know a fellow in this building that goes by the name C-God?" the officer asked.
"No officer, I don't, why? Did he do something bad, sir?" Ness pressed for info.
"Let's just say he's one of the bad guys."
"No way, officer. I stay away from them bad guys." He was really laying it on thick. "Far away! I'm a good guy, you know I have a nine to five. As a matter of fact, I was just promoted to supervisor at my job."
"Really and where is that?" asked the officer.
"Mac Donald's, and one day I hope to open a franchise of my own." Ness couldn't believe the bullshit coming from his own mouth.
"Alright kid, good for you, just stay out of trouble." The officer said heading towards the building as he spotted the K-9 unit pulling up.
'Oh shit,' Ness thought as he opened his car door in a hurry, jumped in and pulled off immediately before the dogs caught a whiff of what was really in the bag. Sweating bullets, he knew how close he came to getting knocked. He started to laugh thinking about how well he played that pig.
"Ahhh Fuck!" Ness yelled , remembering what he left behind. "Damn, why I ain't take the fucking money." Pulling his cell phone from his pocket he dialed C's cell. C-God saw Ness's number come up on the phone and picked up beefing.
"You's a stupid muthafucka, why the fuck is you calling me from your cell nigga?"
"Yo C, I know but -"
"No nigga, obviously you don't know! Go find a fucking payphone and - nah you know what, fuck all that, just bring my shit to me," he said with such authority in his disrespectful tone before hanging up.
"Fuck you nigga! You ain't got your shit," Ness yelled as he threw his phone in the passenger's seat. "I ain't giving that nigga shit." He had a plan and C-God was going to no choice but to step down for Ness' takeover, or die. His plan was simple--set up shop with the bricks and flip the profit. It would take some careful planning but Ness had the overall scheme ready. He didn't really know much about pushing weight, but Smitty did. Now all he needed was a few soldiers behind him, just in case C-God tried to get at him. Ness remembered the wild stories from back in the days about the fear C-God pumped into nigga's hearts.
But, for the past few years he'd been rolling with him all he witnessed was his sharp ass tongue. It was Mike who always pulled the trigger for him and he's been dismissed. 'So what next?' Ness thought. After watching C-God get weak over a broad, Ness no longer respected his gangsta. Of course he wasn't gon' straight sleep on the nigga neither because it was always better to be safe then sorry. Establishing a squad that was ready for war was first on his list of things to do, you know, just to be on the safe side of the fence. Ness stopped at a pay phone and called C back.
"Yo, who this?" C answered his cell on the third ring.
"Yo man, it's Ness. Listen I ain't got your shit dawg. I went to the crib and the Feds was all over place. They had dogs and all types of shit. So a nigga just kept going."
"Yo what the fuck, did they get in my crib?" C-God asked.
"They was running up in the building, I ain't even get out the car. All I seen was police rolling deep and I got the fuck up out the area."
"So yo, wait a little while, go scoop up Reg, then go back over there and check that shit out. It might not even be my spot they hit." C-God ordered.
"Nah, dawg. I ain't going back over there." Ness said.
"What the fuck you mean you ain't going back over there?"
"Yo son, check this out if they ran up in your shit, then nine times out of ten they still there, or they watching it and I ain't getting caught up in that, dawg," Ness said standing his ground and refusing to let C-God punk him.
"Yo, you bitch ass nigga, what the fuc-" Before C-God could finish his verbal lashing, the payphone operator asked for five more cents for the next two minutes and Ness hung up.
He got back in his hooptie and fumble through the arm rest for some sounds, music was always his motivation. He was excited about his chance to finally make some real doe. Finding a tape he popped it in and turned up the volume.
'First you get the money, then you get the power, after the power then these muthafuckas will respect you.'
Ness had one more important phone call to make.
"Yo, we on nigga. We working with ten of them things nigga and shit look sweet too!" Ness didn't need to go into details, his partner knew exactly how it was going down.
"That's what's up! So yo, let's get up in a little while and get this shit popping, a'ight?" said Smitty.
"Sounds like a plan." Ness responded as they abided by one of the most important rules in the drug game-- watch what you say over the phone and keep it short.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was shortly after seven am when Mrs. Wright got over the initial shock of someone trying to murder her daughter. She didn't feel up to it, but she knew it was necessary to call the family and Epiphany's closest friends. Of course as far as friends go, Keisha was #1, then came Shana, who she was unable to reach.
When Mrs. Wright broke the news to Keisha, she was devastated. After some encouraging words about Epiphany's condition and the doctor's reassurance that she would pull through this; Keisha managed to calm down long enough to get the details on what they believed happened. Mrs. Wright questioned her about the guy who was murdered while visiting Epiphany, but she couldn't remember his name and Keisha couldn't offer much help.
"Keisha you are the closest friend Epiphany has, you two are like sisters. I am her mother, so she tells me nothing and if I do hear anything, I hear it from the streets. I know she talks to you.
So I need to ask you something and I want you to be straight with me, okay?" she asked Keisha in all seriousness.
"Okay, I'll do my best." Keisha replied in a soft voice.
"Was she still messing around with that Hinderson boy?"
"Mrs. Wright, in all honesty I don't know. I wanna say no 'cause the last time we talked about him she told me it was over.
She found out about some girl he had gotten pregnant and supposedly she ended it with him."
"Keisha, I just have one more question. Do you think he had something to do with this?" She asked as tears formed and her voice started to crack.
"Mrs. Wright, you know C-god stepped to Tucker over some nonsense a while ago. He's made threats and as a matter of fact he's the reason why Tucker doesn't feel it's safe to stay at home with me and the baby. So, to answer your question, yes I do think he had something to do with this. I don't like him, nor do I trust him and I strongly believe he's absolutely capable of doing something like this." Keisha was starting to get angry.
"Even though she was pregnant?" Mrs. Wright questioned in disbelief. How he could he be so coldhearted, she wondered.
"Wait
a minute, Epiphany is pregnant?" Keisha couldn't believe her ears.
"She was." Mrs. Wright said sadly.
"That bastard! How could he? Mrs. Wright, I gotta go. I have to call Tucker, but I'll be at the hospital as soon as I reach him, okay?" Keisha's eyes flooded with tears all over again.
Keisha arrived at the hospital alone. Carrying 'get well soon' balloons and some flowers, she had only a half an hour left before morning visiting hours were over. Seeing Epiphany was something she had to do, but her mind couldn't stop wondering about Tucker. He'd been ignoring her calls all morning. 'He really might not forgive me' she thought. Regardless of the circum-stances, she felt she was still the mother of his child and there was no excuse for his behavior. She ran into Epiphany's dad, who was standing at the elevator when she got off. Jay Wright looked like an exhausted mad man. He showed her to the room and thanked her for coming, before heading out. As Keisha entered the room she felt sick. She hated the smell of hospitals-- to her they represented sickness and death.
Epiphany's mom greeted her with a tight hug.
"Where is Tucker?" Keisha's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She didn't have an answer, so she thought up a quick lie.
"Loretta and my sisters weren't able to make it back in time to watch the baby, so he stayed home with him," she said looking down at the floor.
"Oh, okay. How is that handsome little boy of yours?" Epiphany's mom smiled but her eyes were still puffy and her voice was rather hoarse from her lack of sleep and crying she'd been doing all night. Mrs. Wright was trying to make light of the situation, but Keisha knew she was having a hard time dealing with everything. Epiphany was her pride and joy even though she didn't always approve of the life she was living.
"He's doing great." Keisha answered back.
"Good! Well I'll give you a little time alone with Epee. I'll be back shortly, okay sweetie?"
"Okay!" Keisha walked closer to Epiphany's bedside. Seeing Epiphany lying there like that brought Keisha to tears. Her face was bruised up pretty badly. She pulled up a chair and moved in as close as she could to the side of the bed. Taking Epiphany's hand into hers, she began to talk to her.
"Hey E, it's me Keisha. I know your in bad shape right now, but your gonna pull through this. I know you will because you know the world can't make it without Epiphany J. Wright." She let out a little laugh. "We just can't do it without you girl. So, you better hurry up and get better before I go crazy. You're my best friend and I love you, plus I need you to help me fix this mess with Tucker. I'm in the dog house and he'll probably never take me back, let alone trust me. I should have never let Lea talk me into having strippers at my bachelorette party. I know it's nobody's fault that I fucked Damager, but if his ass wasn't there in the first place--doing all them freaky things to me, while I was drunk--none of this would have happened. And that damn tape-", she drifted off into a distasteful thought.
"Anyway I won't get into that right now." Keisha quickly snapping out of her daydream and changed the subject.
"Girl your godson is getting so big. He's trying to walk now and he's got eight teeth--ain't that something? He's a real cutie though. I know all mothers think they're kids are cute, but my son is just gorgeous and I' m not just saying that cause he's mines neither. Seriously girl," she laughed, "you know what I was thinking about on the ride over here? I was thinking about the times when we use to just wild out? What were we, like, fourteen then? Yeah 'cause that was before I started going out with Tucker.
Girl we use to have so much fun together back then.
Remember the time we got kicked out of that club? That was so funny. We beat a nigga down for touching you on your ass remember? And, he had the audacity to stand there and pop shit about doing it too. You was so mad, you just turned around and snuffed his ass. Then of course me and Shana looked at each other and then followed your lead. We jumped on him and com-menced to whipping his ass. Boy, nobody could tell us nothing that night. We thought we was the shit for fucking him up the way we did. That was so funny" Keisha laughed again as she continued her one-sided conversation down memory lane.
"Oh...oh. remember the time we cut school and took the J train all the way to west bubble fuck Brooklyn? Playing hooky with those derelicts we met in the pizza shop on the Ave. They were some frontin' ass niggas, but cute as hell though. The one you was kicking with was the cutest, damn he was fine. Did you fuck him? 'Cause ya'll was locked in the room for a long time. I know you probably did 'cause he was gorgeous. He had those pretty green eyes and that good hair, all curly and whatnot. You use to be soft on them pretty boys back then. And Kobe. Yuck! I'll never forget his name. That was the one I hooked up with. He wasn't bad looking neither, but ole boy's breath was kicking. I kept trying to offer him some gum and he would not take it. Oh my god, his mouth smelled like it took a shit. I was so glad he didn't try to kiss me or anything.
Those niggas really tried to get grimey on us once Shana got into it with the guy she was hooked up with. Remember that? He wanted some ass and she fronted. Was he thirsty, or what?
Wanting to fight her over some pussy, remember? He pulled out that knife and kicked us all out. I couldn't believe he kicked us out, knowing they said they was gonna send us back home in a cab if we came over. They tried to play us for real. But it was all good though, 'cause your sneaky ass was always ahead of the game. You copped that pretty boy's chain and his little corny ass nugget bracelet without him even knowing it. We hopped our ass back on the J train to Jamaica with the quickness, went to the Coliseum, traded that nigga's jewels in and got us each a pair of bamboo earrings. That was crazy. You was scandalous girl. We always had each other's back.
I tried calling Shana but her phone has been disconnected.
Her cell ain't working either. It's like she ain't part of the crew no more. We're all moving in different directions, but when I leave here, I think I'm just gonna stop by her house to see what's up with her." Keisha could have went on and on, reminiscing about the good ol'times, but the announcements came on saying that visiting hours were now over.
"I gotta go now, but I'll be back tomorrow" Keisha said as she kissed Epiphany on the forehead and headed towards the door.
"Keisha wait," Mrs. Wright called out as she spotted her walking down the hallway. Keisha stopped and turned around.
"I just wanted to thank you once again for coming and remind you to tell Tucker to please keep his ears open in the streets. Oh, and remember I was telling you about the guy they found dead at Epee's apartment? You knew him, I found out that he was one of her old boyfriends. His name was...something like, Mahkai."
"Oh no, Mrs. Wright, please tell me you don't mean Malikai?"
"Yeah that's him. Wasn't he a friend of Tucker's?"
"Oh god, I gotta go." Keisha barley made it out the hospital before she dialed Tucker cell. Again, she got no answer, so she waited for the beep. "Why aren't you picking up your cellphone?" she screamed into the receiver. "Mali is dead and Epiphany is lying up in the fucking hospital. Damn T, I know you hate me right now but they're our friends. Please call me back." Keisha hung up.
Seconds later, her cell rang. Keisha answered before the first rang even finished and cried out Tucker's name. Only the voice on the other end wasn't him, it was Julius aka 'The Damager'.
Her crying kind of threw him off, he paused for a moment before he spoke.
"Ahhh...is this Keisha?" he asked hesitantly.
"Who is this?" she cried.
"It's Julius, are you alright?"
"No, I'm not alright and please don't call me anymore" Keisha screamed, taking her anger out on him and abruptly ending his call. She dialed Tucker again, expecting the voicemail, but was thrown off when he answered.
"What, Keish?" Tucker was short with her.
"H... he-l-l-o," she stuttered into the mouth piece of the phone.
"Yeah, what?" He replied.
"Did you get my message?" Keisha asked nervously.
"Which one?"
"Nah, but Momma D already told me about Mali. She's fucked up over this shit. I just came from identifying his body and I'm just as fucked up. Everything is fucked up. I gotta bury my best friend. I gotta take care of his funeral arrangements.
Damn! I can't believe this shit." For a moment there was complete silence. "What's up with Epiphany though?" Keisha could hear the sadness in Tuckers' voice although he was trying hard to act like everything was under control. She knew he was going through hell right now. She added her deep-est regards first before telling him about the condition Epiphany was in.
"Hmmm, so she gon' be a'ight, right?"
"Well, the doctors are hopeful. You know she was pregnant?"
"By who? That nigga C?" He said answering his own question.
"I don't know."
"She probably had Mali set up. She told that nigga C-God that Mali was going to be there." Tucker jumped to conclusions about what he thought happened that night.
"Oh, come on Tucker. That's ridiculous and if that was the case, why is she lying up in the ICU?"
"Maybe the nigga was just using her, got what he wanted, then tried to kill two birds with one stone. Or maybe, she was shot as part of the plan to look innocent. Who knows?"
"What! Epiphany would never do something like that" said Keisha speaking in her friend's defense. "Besides she really cared about Malikai."
"Cared! "What's that suppose to mean? You supposedly loved me, but that ain't stop you from getting it on with the next nigga, did it? "I ain't putting nothing past a bitch no more" Keisha realized that Tucker was no longer talking about Epiphany and Mali. He was talking about her.
"BITCH! You know what, I'ma let that go because you just lost your best friend. Yes I played myself, but you better not ever fix your face to call me out my name again. I am your son's mother, just in case you forgot and regardless of what you might think of me right now, that part won't ever change. So, while you try your best to make me feel worst then I already do, you need to ask yourself why I did what I did, Mr. Get-money-and-never-have-time-for-anything-else." Keisha said sarcastically.