Hold Me Down

by Calvin Slater

  Kato bragged, “She aight. Just a dime with no attachment—that’s how we do around these parts, see what I’m sayin’.”

  Xavier allowed his gaze to drift to Dex and Marissa. The two looked like they were going head-to-head on some NASCAR circuit video game.

  Xavier and Kato started walking through the arcade.

  Xavier said, “Good lookin’ on that Heather madness, homeboy.”

  “It was nothing. It was just coincidental that I was coming from hollerin’ at my guidance counselor. When I saw the babe getting ready to stomp Samantha, I grabbed her up in a bear hug to stop it. I kind of felt sorry for Heather.”

  “How so?”

  “All the way to the office she kept on trying to explain that she was sorry, that she didn’t mean to harm Samantha, but you weren’t paying her any attention anymore.”

  Xavier said, “So trying to kick my girlfriend—I mean Samantha—down the steps was her way of crying out for my attention?”

  “I’m just telling you what she told me.”

  The two talked for about ten minutes, getting to know one another, and wound up sitting in a booth, sipping on sodas.

  Kato said, “I haven’t let anybody know this about me. But, Xavier, you seem like a cool brotha.”

  Xavier took a swig of his soda.

  Kato continued, “You know Felix Hoover?”

  Xavier’s stare was one of curiosity.

  “Felix was my dog. After they killed him, I made up my mind to transfer over here to see who was behind the trigger, see what I’m sayin’?”

  There it was in black and white. The reason this dude was here. Xavier always knew that there was another level to Kato.

  Kato said, “I’ve been working the homies in the school for info.”

  “I’m surprise those morons even talked to you. Nobody at Coleman trusts outsiders.”

  “Oh, that junk didn’t come cheap. Had to lay down a few big faces for it.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  Kato stared intensely at Xavier. “I heard that you and Felix were close. I can use somebody else to pull off this caper I got planned for those cats behind the trigger.”

  “Who are these fools?”

  Kato smiled and sat back. “Those guys that drive the GMC SUV?—I don’t know ’em.”

  “You don’t know or you can’t tell me?”

  “Can’t tell you that . . . yet. Are you in?”

  “Homeboy, when you get back at me with some names . . . then I’ll let you know.”

  Kato removed a pen from his jacket and scribbled down his cell phone number on a napkin. “Here’s the number to my hitter once you make up your mind.”

  Xavier grabbed it and got up from the table and walked toward Samantha.

  27

  SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28

  4:00 A.M.

  Xavier’s cell phone rang and almost scared the bejeezus outta him. He rolled over and snatched the phone. He sat up in bed and tried to wipe away the blurriness, thinking, Who in the hell could be calling at this time of morning? He had just gotten in a couple hours ago after leaving Dave & Buster’s. His eyes had yet to focus but the phone kept on ringing. The caller couldn’t be Samantha because she was steamed at him. And she had a right to be. He’d given her a few choice words in the parking lot before jumping into the car with Linus.

  Damn that Sean Desmond character, Xavier thought. Once his eyes focused he saw the caller ID. What the hell was Dexter hitting his cell phone up at this time of the morning?

  He answered and got the shock of his life.

  Dex yelled into the phone, “Man, those fools just shot up my house!”

  Xavier’s eyes opened wide and chills pimpled his flesh with goose bumps. He said, “Dexter, calm down and tell me what happened.”

  Dexter tried to slow down his breathing. “After we dropped you and Marissa off, Linus and I went down to Greektown. Had a bite to eat, and after that Linus dropped me off. About fifteen minutes after he left, I heard something in front of the crib, so I goes to take a peek out the front door. Saw that GMC SUV stop in front of the crib, the windows rolled down, and all I saw was fire spitting out the muzzles of some weapons, my dude.”

  “Your parents all right?”

  Xavier could hear Dex’s mother crying in the background. His father sounded like he was on the phone with the police.

  Dexter said, “Yeah, they’re cool. Just shook up though.”

  “I got this handled, man. Don’t worry about it.”

  “X, what are you talking about?”

  “Said I got it handled.”

  “If you know something, come get me. I wanna ride on those fools. This thing is personal.”

  “You and Linus just fall back. I got this.”

  Xavier hung up the phone. He got out of bed and flipped on the lights and grabbed the napkin from his jacket pocket.

  This was war. He was about to put a stop to these clowns right now.

  Xavier dialed Kato’s phone number.

  The streets were almost deserted at four thirty in the morning. Xavier sat in the passenger seat of Kato’s Chevy TrailBlazer. The anger he had for those clowns had led him into doing something stupid, like rolling on them with a cat he no more knew personally than the snakes he’d been researching.

  After he’d contacted Kato, Kato had made a few phone calls and got the ball rolling. The lick was going down at Belle Isle, the huge Detroit city park, and nobody could stop it. The GMC boys had to go. Dexter was like family. Didn’t bother anybody. The boy could’ve been killed. Worse yet, one of his parents could’ve easily perished in that senseless and cowardly attack.

  Xavier looked out of his side-view mirror. They were being followed by a black Mercury Marauder; an out-cold, brand-new burgundy Jeep Grand Cherokee; and a newer red Chevrolet Camaro sitting on twenty-ones. Kato had referred to them as his gang.

  All four vehicles were now rolling strong down Jefferson Avenue, headed east to the General Douglas MacArthur Bridge. They passed the IHOP, a Mobil gas station, the Jefferson Chevrolet dealership, Fuddruckers, and Wendy’s, veering to the right and taking the MacArthur Bridge over to Belle Isle.

  At this point Xavier started having second thoughts. It took an evil person to take a life. He wasn’t a punk or anything—he was always down for a good scrap—but this was different. It felt different. He felt that lives would be taken behind this ride. And frankly, Xavier didn’t know if he had the stomach or the heart to perpetrate such a foul and diabolical act of senselessness.

  If he bailed out now he’d look like a punk. Nobody respected a snitch at Coleman, but at least none of the students had ever tried Xavier. But if he bounced on Kato and the treachery got back to the school, everybody and their mamas would probably be trying to step to him.

  Xavier’s life was passing before his eyes as they kept to the outer road and went by the Scott Fountain. They journeyed deeper into the park’s interior through a series of roads until the vehicles reached a huge parking lot, not too far from the giant slide. And there it was, sitting parked in the gloom, like some spectral chariot of death, vehicle idling, headlights on. This was the GMC SUV he’d seen, a little too close for comfort, the night when those goons pulled up on him and his friends and opened fire at LaMarcus’s party.

  Kato slowed to a crawl, rolled down his window, and stuck his arm out, signaling for his partners to take position. The cars quickly surrounded the SUV. Something wasn’t right, though. The boys in the GMC were ruthless. Xavier thought that cars surrounding them would more than likely end in a deadly shootout. But there was nothing.

  Kato said to Xavier, “You ready for this?”

  Xavier didn’t speak at first. Just wished he was at home underneath the warm covers.

  He finally said in an unenthused tone, “Let’s do it.” The butterflies were dancing the hot hustle in his stomach.

  Kato reached under his seat and grabbed a gat. He stuck it underneath his bomber jacket inside of his w
aistband. “Let’s do this.”

  The two of them exited the TrailBlazer, triggering Kato’s boys into exiting their vehicles, flanking the GMC.

  There still was no gunfire. It was puzzling, to say the least.

  The tint on the windows of the GMC was extra dark. Nobody could see inside.

  Kato took his position and yelled to the occupants of the truck, “Y’all can get out now. We have everything handled.”

  The driver-side door of the GMC opened and out stepped . . . Dylan Dallas, Xavier’s old enemy. The dude Xavier had knocked out cold at the soul food restaurant. The chump was also the leader of the former super gang called Straight Eight at Coleman.

  I’ll be damned, Xavier thought as Dylan walked over to him. Still, there was no gunfire. What was up with this?

  Dylan said to Xavier, “ ’Sup, nephew. You remember me? Of course you do. I’m the cat that twisted your homeboy Felix Hoover.”

  Things got really interesting when out of the passenger door slid Dutch Westwood, the other slimeball lieutenant from Straight Eight.

  Westwood said, “Oh. There’s Xavier Hunter. It must be raining Christmas gifts.”

  Two other guys got out of the GMC’s backseat. A cold chill raced up Xavier’s back. This didn’t seem right to him. The guys from the GMC were now shaking hands with Kato’s boys.

  Xavier went to look at Kato and homeboy had a devilish grin on his face. Setup. This dirty bastard had set him up from the jump.

  Kato said to Xavier, “I guess every man has his price, see what I’m sayin’?”

  Xavier must’ve missed the duffel bag Westwood was carrying. He handed it to Kato.

  Westwood said, “This has to be money well spent.”

  Xavier just stood there speechless. He couldn’t believe the dude had served him up to his enemies on a silver platter.

  “Don’t look so surprised, nephew,” Dylan Dallas said. “I told you behind the school that day that you would have your day in front of my gun. We already took care of the only thing that stood in our way.”

  Westwood laughed sinisterly. “Like Felix, those two fools from the football team, Ray what’s-his-name, and Clyde who-gives-a-damn. See, we figured we’d knock off those who were in the way. Punish you. Save you for last. Don’t know if we iced your boy Dexter, but the way his house looked when we jetted, nobody could’ve survived.”

  Xavier spoke out for the first time. “Wow. This is how I go out, huh? Let me ask you goons something before y’all punch my ticket.”

  Dylan said, “Speak your piece, nephew.”

  Xavier looked around. He was seriously outnumbered. Not to mention the firepower. There was no way he could escape.

  He asked, “Slick Eddie, does he have anything to do with this?”

  Westwood laughed. “Are you crazy? We don’t work for nobody else. This is personal, G. You got in the way of my bread when you and your little Zulu crew tried to regulate Coleman by getting rid of thugs, criminals and hustlers last year. Good people like me and him”—he pointed to Dylan Dallas. “This is payback, playboy.”

  Dylan Dallas chimed in. “The little goody-goody stunt y’all pulled cut into the profits. In a school where we depended on our fellow students to eat, you and your crew disrupted all of it, with running the so-called ‘bad element’ out of the school. Time to pay up, nephew.”

  “Yeah we smoked your homeboys, because we knew that they would have your back,” said Westwood. “Now it’s time for you to go.”

  Kato just stood there, grinning. The boy had all the integrity of a snake in the wild.

  “Enough of this,” Kato said. “Y’all paid me to do a service. It’s done. But before you boys take Xavier on that ride, there’s somebody I think he should meet first.” Kato got on his phone. “Bring it on.”

  One, two, three—and the whole damn area was flooded with the flashing lights of police units. The officers jumped out with their guns drawn.

  Dutch Westwood said, “What the hell is going on?”

  Dylan Dallas asked, “What’s up with this bacon convention up in here, cuz?”

  Kato smiled. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a police badge attached to a thick black cord around his neck. “Dylan Dallas, Dutch Westwood, you boys are under arrest for the murder of Felix Hoover and the attempted murder of Ray Taylor and Clyde McElroy. You two have the right to remain silent. I think you should exercise that right.”

  The officers converged on Dutch and his crew and slapped handcuffs on their wrists.

  Xavier looked at the guys who had driven over with Kato. They were now pulling their badges out of their jackets like Kato had done and were mixing in with the other police. A search of the GMC yielded four AK-47s and two .40 caliber Glocks.

  Xavier was relieved. He smiled and told Kato, “Man, for a minute I thought you had sold me like I was a black market product. I’m relieved.” He held his hands out in front of him. “Look at how they’re shaking. Got my heart pumping Kool-Aid.”

  Kato laughed. “Didn’t mean to do that to you or have you in the middle of this, but it was the only way to bring those bastards to justice.”

  Xavier exhaled. “It’s all good, homeboy. Trust me. It’s all good.”

  Kato explained, “I had to go undercover. Nobody at the school would talk to the police. I got connected and found out through the grapevine that Dylan and Dutch had a price on your head. It took me a while to get past their underlings and get to meet them directly. Got ’em to trust me by doing a couple of jobs”—he used the quote fingers—“to prove myself. Once my street cred checked out, we were good to go. Before you came here I had called them up, told ’em that I had you, and they agreed to meet.”

  Xavier said, “They sprayed up my homeboy’s house. Could’ve killed him and his parents.”

  “Oh, they’ll be charged with that too. And I’m sure those guns we took out of the truck will turn out to be the ones that murdered Felix.”

  “That thing with Heather wasn’t just some coincidence, was it?”

  Kato cracked a smile. “Let’s just say, a little birdie told me what was going down.” He shook Xavier’s hand. “By the way, my name is Sergeant Shannon Tyree. It’s been my pleasure. The teachers at Coleman speak highly of you.” He went into his wallet and grabbed a business card. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate.”

  Xavier couldn’t do anything but stand there. The scene was aglow from the lights of the police vehicles. More had arrived to assist in the arrests. He looked toward the heavens and thanked God. Heather and the GMC boys—well, Dutch Westwood and Dylan Dallas—didn’t represent a threat anymore. But Tall and Husky was still out there somewhere. And Xavier bet the farm that he was hand-selected by Slick Eddie or Romello to bring about his demise.

  Thank you, God, Xavier said to himself. There are two down and one to go!

  28

  MONDAY, MARCH 2

  3:30 P.M.

  Samantha was all up in Xavier’s mind. Aside from a few text messages, the two hadn’t really conversed much. Not since Dave & Buster’s. The text messages were hollow at best. Just the standard “Hi, how are you doing” and “Just to let you know I’m thinking about you.” Xavier was hurting behind it. He missed his Sam. But he also had his pride and wasn’t about to chase after anybody.

  “Dang, can’t believe ol’ boy is a narc,” said Dexter.

  Xavier, Linus, Bigstick, and Dexter were standing around Linus’s ride in the back parking lot. School was letting out and kids took to the outside, happy about the warmer weather. After being punished by old man winter’s wrath with below-freezing temperatures, students were excited about the warm-up. Fifty degrees was like a small heat wave to them, and some were even walking home wearing short sleeves.

  Xavier said, “Man—by the way, for the sake of the officer’s safety I can’t let y’all know his real name, so we’re just gonna continue to call him Kato. But when I saw Westwood and Dylan Dallas get out of the GMC and start shaking hands with Kato, I th
ought that God was getting ready to call my number.”

  Linus broke in. “My dude, I know that had to be scary, but I would’ve knuckled up and fought my way out.”

  Dexter said, “Scary ain’t the word for it. I would’ve gone number two in my pants.”

  Bigstick added, “Before they would’ve had a chance to turn my lights out, fam, I’d be grabbing the first fool to beat down. Somebody would’ve been coming with me, that’s for damn sure.”

  Xavier laughed at their ignorance. “If y’all had seen what I did, there is no way you’d be standing here talking gangsta. Guns were everywhere. Besides, I’m not into running. Wouldn’t give those snakes the satisfaction of shooting me in the back. These fools had brought a bag full of loot to Kato, to cash out the homeboy for handing me over.”

  Dexter asked, “How much cheddar did they drop for your head?”

  “Don’t know. Didn’t care to find out either. I just know that Kato flipped the script on those thugs after he took the gym bag. He made a call on his cell phone. Five-o blitzed the area. Westwood and Dylan didn’t know what hit ’em.”

  Bigstick said, “So it was those clowns who murdered Felix and are responsible for shooting Ray and Clyde. By the way, Clyde is back home now, but it’s likely he’ll never play football again. The doctors said something about the bullet grazing his spinal cord. Fam will be lucky to even walk again.”

  “Don’t forget those chumps were the ones who got to dumping on us at LaMarcus’s party that night,” said Dexter.

  “And it made it tough for anybody to identify them because of the heavy tint on the windows of the GMC,” added Linus Flip.

  Dexter said, “I’m just glad the whole thing is over. Dutch Westwood and Dylan Dallas will probably draw lengthy double-digit sentences behind this madness.”

  Dexter is half right, Xavier thought. Westwood and Dallas would more than likely grow gray in the joint, but this thing was far from over. And right on cue, a black cargo van pulled into the parking lot, driving close so that Xavier could see the driver, but not so close as to alarm him. The van was some forty feet away when Xavier identified the creep driving it. He couldn’t miss the face that had been stalking him for a good part of the school year. Tall and Husky sat in the driver’s seat.