by Mikal Malone
Charles was just about to pull the trigger when Doctanian, their lieutenant, approached them.
“Where the fuck you niggas been? The Emerald City squad is here. Somebody tried to rob Carissa, and they asking questions. Meet us in the alley ‘round back.”
With that one statement, Charles was gone. But Critter didn’t move until he was sure they were out of sight. And as soon as they were, he picked himself up off the floor. He knew the first thing he had to do was tell the girls what he heard.
Critter was far from stupid. He knew the more they trusted him, the more they looked out for him. That was why the other fiends played him so close. He was the one person they could always count on to have access to dope at all times. When he felt the coast was clear, he ran out the laundry room and toward Unit C.
Chapter 7
The Basement Apartment
December, Saturday, 2:17 a.m.
Duck Down
“Donald, please stop being nosey! What if they see you?” Latonya asked her boyfriend while sitting on the floor under her living room window.
“We got the lights out! They can’t see shit, but shut up before they hear you.”
Latonya and her boyfriend were listening to the Emerald City squad reprimand six of their soldiers and their lieutenant from Unit A about what happened to Carissa. The members were so close to the window that with the lights out, they could clearly see the labels on their jeans.
“Now what the fuck happened tonight?” Thick yelled as he walked back and forth looking each of his soldiers in the eye.
Although no new chief had been named after Dex was killed, it was agreed that he would question the soldiers, since his large size automatically provoked fear.
CJ, the youngest soldier on Doctanian’s team spoke. “I…uh…don’t know, Thick. I’m telling you, we were out here all night and didn’t see anybody running out or following Carissa.”
“Well in order for them to know where she was going, somebody had to know she was there. Now she came through the fucking front door!” Thick continued as he stopped in front of CJ. “So what you saying now sounds like bullshit!”
His plan was working. He had the young workers shook. He felt it was just a matter of time before one of them sold the other out. He wanted to let them know that something was definitely going to happen tonight. With Dex being gone, they couldn’t take the risk of letting this grave disrespect slide or having it happen again. After all, they answered to Dreyfus, and all he cared about was his money and what happened tonight could have fucked with that.
Meanwhile, Lavelle waited eagerly for the opportunity to bust a cap in whoever was responsible for terrorizing the love of his life. And right by Lavelle’s side, with their hands tucked in their coats, were Cameron and Dyson waiting for the results.
When Lavelle’s phone rang, he started to ignore it. To him there wasn’t anything more important than finding out who tried to rob them, and hurt his future wife. But when he saw it was Carissa on the line, he excused himself from the line up to answer the call.
Under the only light in the alley, his expression turned from that of business to that of rage. His friends noticed the change and immediately knew something was going on. After receiving his information, and ending the call, he slowly walked over to Thick and whispered in his ear.
CJ, Charles and Erick were on edge, as they realized that it was possible that someone fingered them.
The smell of piss and the rats running back and forth only heightened the feeling of dismay and death. Tonight someone was definitely going to die; it was just a matter of who.
“Something definitely getting ready to happen now, baby,” Donald whispered. “These thugs getting ready to kill somebody, I just know it!”
“I wish you shut the fuck up before they hear you! If you can hear everything they saying, how you know they can’t hear us?” Latonya asked.
“Girl, I know these kind of niggas! Didn’t I tell you I used to run Benning road with thirty mothafuckas on my payroll? These mothafuckas ain’t thinking about nothing but handling business. They ain’t worried about nobody in a window.”
“You don’t know them. Niggas today kill people for any reason. I think you should just leave stuff alone,” she pleaded.
Donald heard her words, but ignored all of them. The possibility of violence erupting before his eyes excited him. That was one of the main reasons he liked young girls who lived in the projects. It allowed him to relive his past, and be around all the things he was familiar with. He used to sling coke and heroin when he was a teenager himself. He was in the game all the way into his late 30s, until he started using coke instead.
After he fell off, he lost everything, including his wife, their $500,000 home in Upper Marlboro, and his kids. He broke all the promises he made to her, especially the one of opening a business, instead of selling coke. However, he couldn’t stop nor did he want to. He loved the power, the respect and the women too much to settle down. Being this close to danger only reminded him of what he had while wishing he were still a part of it.
Thick’s voice was serious. “Doctanian, I’m gonna ask you one more time nigga! So you betta think before you open your fucking mouth. Did you have an eye on all of your soldiers at all times?”
“Uh…..yeah….but… at one point I asked CJ and Charles to get me something to eat. I was hungry from pulling all those hours. You know how it is when those testers come out, man. But other than that, I had an eye on them the entire time. I swear, Thick. I ain’t lying to you,” Doctanian said, praying that someone didn’t include him in whatever happened to Carissa.
He was guilty of being a bad lieutenant, but he was loyal and hardworking and Thick and them knew it. Doctanian knew that the lieutenants of Emerald City didn’t have the same privileges as the captains of the Emerald City Squad or the ladies of the Control station at Unit C. They had to be outside, working hand and hand with their crew, only taking brief breaks in between. They were compensated more, but since most of them didn’t like serving hand to hand, the extra money didn’t give them any real power.
Directly in front of Latonya’s window, Jake, the soldier next to the youngest, heard movement in the apartment behind him. He made a mental note to say something when the moment was right. He wouldn’t dare say anything now, and risk whatever they had in store for someone else being given to him instead.
“You were hungry?” Thick laughed sarcastically. “You’re in charge of a shop, which earns you more money than the president of the United States, and you were fucking hungry? Are you serious?”
“Let me remind you mothafuckas of the Emerald City motto: Honor, Loyalty, Obedience and Silence. That’s the mothafucking creed we live by. Now I understand that self-preservation is the biggest instinct of any man, but in Emerald City, there’s no room for that shit!” he yelled as all six of Doctanian’s soldiers stood in fear wondering what would happen next.
“Let this be a lesson to all of you. Emerald City not going for bullshit. Don’t sleep. Dex getting killed only made us stronger than ever!” Thick emphasized as the members of the Emerald City squad began to get hype over what he was about to do. Murder.
Without saying another word, he walked up to CJ, and said, “You broke the code. Good night, nigga!” Bang!
The shot from his nickel-plated 9mm entered CJ’s head. The others were disoriented for a moment, but quickly stood back in line as they glanced at one of their members lying motionless on the ground.
Charles and Erick were petrified. They definitely knew that the possibility was greater now that someone had seen them too. But Erick didn’t intend to go out like that. He was ready and willing to bust right back at Thick and anybody else who wanted to kill him, before he just stood still and accepted his fate.
“You can take the next one. He’s all yours,” Thick said as he looked at Lavelle and faded backwards.
Lavelle stepped up from the position he took at the start of the meeting. His movement was s
o fluid he appeared to walk on air. Without saying a word, he squeezed two into Charles’ face. When Charles dropped, and only when he dropped, did he resume his position alongside his squad. He was glad Thick hadn’t forgotten that he wanted a piece of whoever tried to kill his girl. Like always, he remembered, and gave Lavelle the pleasure he needed. Seeing him drop was so satisfying that immediately his dick got hard.
I’m not going out like no sucker. Fuck that shit! Erick thought. With his hands behind his back, like they demanded from all of them earlier, he placed his hand in a position that would give him quick access to his 9mm. In his mind, his destiny was already chosen and he was willing to accept his fate. But unlike his co-conspirators, he had plans to take at least three of the captains of the Emerald City Squad with him.
“Now the rest of you niggas get back to work!” Thick said as he saw the only four members left in Doctanian’s crew begin to leave.
“And Doctanian!” Dyson yelled.
“Yeah?” he said as he turned around nervously.
“Don’t worry, these niggas will be replaced.”
Doctanian nodded his head, and moved out of the alley and out of sight.
But Erick still couldn’t believe he was spared. Whoever gave the message delivered it incorrectly. There were three of them involved in the plan to rob Unit A’s stash house. One thing was for certain, the Emerald City squad wasn’t as soft as he thought they’d be after Dex was killed. They were more vicious than ever. He decided to lie back for a while, and resume his plan to rob the stash house later, when he got another crew. And this time he would do it carefully, and leave no witnesses.
When Jake slid back through the door and moved toward the alley, Thick and the others wondered what was up.
“What you doing, lil nigga? Get back to work!” Dyson yelled. “We got this shit here.”
“I am…but uh….I wanted to tell you something,” Jake said.
Sensing something was wrong, they listened to what he had to say. After Jake told them of the witnesses that could possibly be behind the window, they realized what they had to do. Slowly and carefully, they directed their attention to the same window, Jake stood in front of earlier. Without hesitation, they each pulled out their weapons, and sprayed the basement floor window full of holes. Not stopping until they emptied all their clips. Latonya and Donald died instantly.
Pleased with how things were handled, they walked off toward their truck, parked on the other end of the alley, and into the night.
Chapter 8
On the Strength of Love
January, Monday, 3:32 p.m.
Mercedes
“Cameron, you got to talk to your daughter! You know she brought a knife to school last week and almost got expelled.”
“Well was somebody trying to fuck with her or something? ‘Cause I ain’t gonna tell her not to defend herself, Cedes.”
“She pulled it out on the teacher, Cameron. That girl is becoming terrible! I’m telling you, I might have to get some help for her.”
“What the fuck you talking about get some help for her? My daughter don’t need no fucking doctor. So if you thinking ‘bout that shit, get it the fuck outta your head right now!”
“Well what you want me to do? Keep letting her act a fool? I need some fucking help!”
Cameron didn’t understand that Chante was not innocent anymore. He didn’t understand how serious things were with her. It seemed like every time I came in from working the station, my mother would tell me about something else she had done. All Cameron cared about was Lil C. He never put in any real time in with his girls.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“With my mother,” I said. “Want me to go get her?”
“Naw. I’ll talk to her later. Where’s Lil C? I wanna run him to P.G. Plaza tomorrow to get those shoes he wanted.”
“He’s with her too. Lil C don’t need any more shoes. We don’t have anywhere to put his shit now.” I paused and asked the question I always did when I got my queue. “When we gonna move, baby?”
“Stop fucking with me, Mercedes. We already talked about this shit. Soon as shit is stable, we’ll move. Why you keep asking me when you know how tight shit is around here? Niggas just tried to take us down. We can’t be moving away.”
“But you have been saying the same thing forever, Cameron. With the money we make and what you get from the other shops, we could at least afford a nicer apartment. I’m not saying we have to buy the house I want. I just need more room for all our clothes and stuff. I’m tired of living like this. Emerald City is filthy.”
“Filthy? What you talking ‘bout, Mercedes. You been living around here all your life. It ain’t like our apartment ain’t laid.”
“But what happens when we walk out the door? I got to work overtime right now to keep the roaches and rats from other mothafuckas’ apartments from creeping over here. I want the life you told me we would have when things got better. It seems like all you care about now is business when you come home.”
Cameron stood up from the sofa and walked over to me. I already knew what he was trying to do. Make me forget about what I wanted by making love to me. And although I knew, I still couldn’t resist him. His chocolate covered skin and perfectly sculpted body called me. It didn’t help that he wasn’t wearing nothing but boxers and the platinum and diamond chain that hung around his neck.
When he finally reached me, he pulled me into him and placed his lips over mine. The scent of his Black Code cologne by Giorgio Armani reminded me so much of what I needed from him. Safety, security and love.
Unlike my friends, I wanted this lifestyle. But living in Emerald City without being able to escape when I wanted to made me feel no better than Critter or any of the other mothafuckas we served. I liked being a hustler’s woman but I felt I was losing my man. I was supposed to have everything I wanted, including a place free from the fiends and drug addicts who made us rich. But I didn’t.
“Listen, baby…Just give me some more time. We need ya’ll here ‘cause with people trying to take us down, all we got is each other. There’s nobody ready right now to run EC. Niggas are on serious crud time. They just waiting for that perfect moment to catch us slipping. You see how many times niggas tried to rob us since they tried to get Carissa, right? Imagine what would happen if they saw us packing up and running? I’m sorry, baby, but right now is not the time to leave.”
“When will it be, Cameron? What about our kids? Don’t they deserve better too?” I asked, desperately trying to hold back my tears.
“Yes they do, baby,” he said as he reached in for another kiss and removed my shirt. “Ya’ll all do. As long as I got blood in my body, you’ll have everything you want and everything you need.”
I don’t even remember how we went from the living room to the bedroom, but Cameron did his best to make me remember why I made him my man. From sucking my toes, to kissing my eyelids, he made love to me as if he needed me as much as I needed him. As I slid down on his large 11-inch dick, I let my body tell him how much I cared for him.
The look in his eyes as he took pleasure from my wet pussy reminded me who was really in control. Me.
Around and around, up and down I fucked Cameron like a professional. This was the only real time I had his full attention. This was the only time he let his guard down, and gave into me. We didn’t stop making love until we couldn’t do as much as lift our heads. And before I knew it, we were fast asleep.
Cameron ending a call awakened me. I didn’t move because my gut was telling me that he was gonna leave again. Ever since Carissa had been set up, they stayed with us night and day. They made their presence known in Emerald City. And after they murdered CJ and Charles, niggas knew they weren’t playing. For two whole weeks we had them all to ourselves; and every time his cell phone rang, I prayed that wouldn’t change.
“We gotta go downstairs. Get dressed,” Cameron said, in a serious tone.
I hustled to get myself together and di
d a John Wayne, which consisted of me washing my face and my ass and brushing my teeth in the sink. I knew that whatever was getting ready to happen required my immediate attention so a bath was out the question.
I watched Cameron tuck his heat to his body and throw on his thick black coat and I grabbed my big beige coat.
Once off the elevators, the first thing I saw was Thick leaning up against the rails outside with arms wrapped around Yvette’s waist. I noticed Carissa with her arm wrapped around Lavelle’s as he tucked his hands inside his coat pockets. Finally, I noticed Kenyetta and Dyson sitting on the top step of Unit C looking in our direction. I could tell from the looks on their faces that something was going on.
When I pushed open the building’s door, I was nervous. I mean, all of my friends were there but lately too much shit was happening. But when I was outside, I saw my favorite car glistening. The one I had been stashing money aside to purchase behind Cameron’s back. A candy apple red Mercedes Benz C-Class C55 AMG with a big black ribbon on top of it. I didn’t want to get carried away, but by the way everyone was smiling, I couldn’t help but pray the car was for me.
“Baby! Is it…Is it really?” I asked him as he smiled at me.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you take these and find out,” he responded, handing me a set of Mercedes keys.
As Cameron gave his boys dap, I bolted down the steps towards my new ride. My girls quickly ditched their men and were right behind me running down the steps. It felt like Christmas day. There was no special occasion, and I wondered what I’d done to deserve such a tight ass present. Once I opened the door, I saw a dozen long stem roses, with a note that read:
“Stick with me, baby, and I’ll make all your dreams come true. One day at a time.”
Before I could cry, he came down the steps, opened the passenger door, and sat down. I was so overwhelmed I was speechless. Nothing I could say would express how much this gift meant to me.