“They found him.”
“They found him? What do you mean, they found him?”
Chino exhaled. “He’s dead, Pam.”
Putting her hands up to her mouth, she exclaimed, “No! No, Chino!”
Chino pulled her close.
“Noooooooooo!” she screamed. “Nooooooo!”
Chino wrapped his arms around her. Pam pulled away from him.
“Chino, what happened? Who did that to him?”
Chino shook his head. “No one. He killed himself.”
“Why?” Pam cried out. “Michael, why?”
Again, Chino shook his head. “No one knows. No one but Young Mike.” His story would be buried with him.
“Nooooooo!” Pam started falling to the ground. Chino held her up. “I can’t believe this, Chino! I can’t! Why, God? Why?”
Pam shoved Chino away and raced out of the apartment. She found herself racing down the street until she was out of breath. Breathing heavily, she looked around and found herself at a school. It was the weekend, and after hours, and so the school was empty. She leaned against the building and began crying like a baby.
“Why, God? Why?” she screamed. Why did He have to take Young Mike? Of all the people in this world He could have taken, why Young Mike? There were niggas out there not doing shit with their lives that He could have taken. There were people in this world hurting other people; why not take them instead? It was not fair. God was wrong for this one. Young Mike never hurt anybody. He never hurt a fly. He was just a youngster trying to get his life together. He was good.
Pam fell to the ground in tears. All Young Mike wanted to do was get his GED, go to college, get a good job, and take care of his grandmother and little sister. What was wrong with that? Why take somebody who wanted to do good? Why take somebody who wanted to be a doctor and help other people? Young Mike had a good heart. Whether or not he would have or could have become a doctor was beside the point. The point was, it was in his heart to help people. Despite all that he had gone through in life, despite the shitty hand that he had been dealt, he still wanted to do good!
Pam kicked the school building. “He never had a chance! You didn’t give him a chance!” she shouted at the school.
That school, in her eyes, represented all that was wrong in life. It represented all the things that had conspired to destroy Young Mike. It was the place that had doomed him from the beginning.
“It’s all your fault!” Pam shouted. She rose from the ground, searched the area, and found an empty soda can. She chucked the can at the building. “You did this! You failed him! You let him slip through the cracks, and you didn’t give a shit! He was nothing but a statistic to you! Just another black face! You fucking asshole motherfuckers!”
Chino pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of his Land Cruiser. He walked to where Pam was chucking rocks and sticks and cans and bottles and whatever else she could find at the school. He grabbed her and pulled her close.
“They killed him, Chino!” she screamed. “They killed him!”
“No, Pooh! Nobody killed him! He killed himself! He killed himself!”
“Why, Chino? Why?”
“Things just got too tough for him, that’s all. Life just got a little rough.”
“He was going to make it! He was going to be a doctor and save people!”
Chino swallowed hard. “They say his girl left him, he was desperate for money, and he had just caught a new case.”
Pam shook her head and pointed at the school. “They killed him.”
“They didn’t kill him, Pooh.”
“He wasn’t a street kid or a hustler or a booster or a fencer or a dope dealer! That was what everybody else expected him to be. He was sweet and innocent, and he had a heart of gold. He just wanted to help people. He wanted to help his grandmother and his sister, and save lives.”
“I know, Pooh.”
“It’s not fair,” Pam cried.
“I know, Pooh. I know.” He held her tightly. “It’s going to be okay, Pooh. Everything is going to be okay. He’s in a better place now.”
“He should have been in a better place down here, Chino. I failed him We all failed him.”
“No, Pooh. He chose to take his own life. It’s not your fault, my fault, or anyone else’s fault.”
“Chino, he sat at our table, studying for his GED. He told me that he wanted to go to college. I should have helped him study. I should have taken him down to the community college myself and registered him. I shouldn’t have let him move out. I shouldn’t have taken all that money that he owed you, Chino. When he gave it to me, I should have let him keep some. I should have made sure that he saved more of his own money and didn’t blow it on bullshit.”
Chino shook his head. “Pooh, he was grown. We loved Young Mike, but he wasn’t our responsibility. We gave him a place to stay, we looked out for him, we did the best we could.”
“We should have done better!” Pam snapped. “We should have done more, Chino. I just can’t believe this! I can’t believe that he’s gone!”
“He’s gone, and that leaves us, Pooh. That leaves us here to keep moving forward, to keep moving on. We have to keep on living now.”
Pam wiped her tears. “I just don’t understand how God could take someone like Young Mike.”
“It’s not for us to question. We just have to live our lives and do the best we can. You understand that, Pooh?”
Pam nodded.
“C’mon,” Chino said, extending his hand to help her up. “Let’s get out of here before somebody calls the police.”
Pam rose, dusted herself off, and walked with Chino back to his SUV.
Chapter 42
Slow Down
“So, what’s on the agenda for today, kinfolk?” Infa asked, while leaning in the window of Chino’s Land Cruiser.
“Yo, you know what dude looks like fo sho?” Chino asked.
“What dude?”
“This Erik cat,” Chino told him. “I know what he looks like, but not for sure. You know what I’m saying?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Infa nodded. “I know what cat daddy looks like for sure.”
“I need to roll up on dude and see what he’s talking about,” Chino said.
“Why you checking for dude?” Infa asked.
“I need some information.”
“About Pam?” Infa asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Chino nodded. “I want to pull up on fool and see what he’s talking about.”
“Like what?” Infa asked. “What can dude tell you? He can be shitty and say he knocked boots, or he can be slick and claim that he didn’t. Either way, you really won’t know the truth.”
“I need to see this cat,” Chino told him. “I can tell what he’s about once I look into his eyes. You rolling or what?”
Infa nodded, walked around the SUV, and climbed inside. “Man, I hope you know what you doing.”
“What?” Chino grabbed his pistol. “You think that nigga wanna trip?”
“He might.” Infa shrugged. “The nigga ain’t no punk.”
“Man, fuck that nigga!” Chino said.
“You right,” Infa agreed. “But do you really want to go on campus and get into it with that fool? The campus police be tripping, and neither one of us belong on campus.”
Chino turned onto the Ohio campus. “I’ma roll by the student center and see if I see that fool. Keep ya eyes out.”
Infa nodded. “Damn, this shit must really be important.”
Chino nodded. “It is. Nigga, you would do the same thing if it was your girl.”
“If it was my main girl?” Infa shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I’d just let her go, or get over it. I don’t know if I would go and check the nigga. He can’t do no more than she let him. Pimp rule 101. Don’t check the nigga, check the muthafucking ho. Not that I’m calling your girl a ho, but you know the rules.”
Chino nodded. Infa was right. Maybe he was out of order for checking to see if Pam had got
ten out of line. Checking for this nigga was one thing, but checking this nigga was something completely different. He really didn’t want to get arrested on campus, but he had to see this fool. He had to let this fool know that he was around and that he could find him and get at him. If he wanted to get at Pam, then he would play head games back with the nigga. I see you, nigga, is the message he wanted to convey. Plus he had to know if Pooh crept. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it to Infa, but not knowing was killing him inside. He couldn’t touch Pooh until he knew something.
“I got to find this nigga, Infa,” Chino said softly. “I’ve got to find him.”
“Let it go, bro,” Infa told him. “You hold on to this, and it will eat you up inside.”
Chino knew that Infa was on point. He turned the Land Cruiser around and headed off campus. He had to let it go.
Chino, Chris J, and Infa rolled to City Center Mall to pick up some suits for Young Mike’s funeral. They were going to hit Foley’s and Dillard’s and do some more shopping. Chino was even going to buy a suit for Young Mike to be buried in and take it to the funeral home for his grandmother.
The first store the crew hit up was Dillard’s. It was there where Chino ran into Tracey.
“Hi, how are you doing?” Tracey asked.
“I’m good, ma,” Chino told her, returning her smile. She cute, Chino thought. She was a yellow bone, with long hair that she wore in a ponytail. She had full red lips and pretty light brown eyes. Her figure was on the slim side, but she had a nice curve on her backside and two nice little humps up top. The form-fitting knit overall suit that she was wearing accented her figure perfectly. It was black and white plaid, and she wore black shoes and sheer black stockings to complement her outfit. She also wore a white blouse and had a black tie holding her ponytail in place. She was dressed conservative and cute. More than likely, she was a college girl from the university.
“Is there anything I can help you with today?” Tracey asked.
Chris answered, “Yeah, how about your phone number?”
“Don’t you go with my friend Debra?” Tracey asked.
“I was asking for it for my man here!” Chris J said, putting his hands on Chino’s shoulders.
“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “Sure you were.”
Chino and Infa laughed. She was sexy and sophisticated. Unlike anything he had met before, Chino thought. Most girls he could easily charm, but this one was different. You could tell that she was smart and a spoiled little rich girl. She was working in the department store and she had a gold name tag on, which meant she was a department manager. She looked young, too young to be a department head. Unless she had just graduated from college, or she had worked for the store all four years that she had been in college and had worked her way up the ladder. Either way, she was smart, and ambitious, and classy. At least that’s what her clothes and perfume said about her. Chino recognized the Chanel No. 5 she was wearing. It was his favorite.
“I’m looking for a suit,” Chino told her.
Tracey turned and ran her hands across Chino’s shoulders and chest. “I know just the right suit for your type of build. It’s a Geoffrey Beene suit. It would fit you like a glove.”
“I’m following you,” Chino told her. He peered down at her firm, round behind. So did Infa and Chris. They gave each other dap.
“Like a muthafuckin onion!” Infa said. He, Chris J, and Chino laughed.
Tracey stopped, spun around, and faced them. “So, you like what you see, huh?” She spun back around and continued walking until she arrived at the men’s suits section, where she led them to a mannequin dressed in a fine dark gray suit. “So, what do you think?”
Chino nodded. “I like it.”
Tracey pulled a suit from a nearby rack. “This is your size.”
“How do you know?” Chino asked. “Your boyfriend about the same size as me?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend, and I’m a seamstress. I’ve been making my own clothes since I was fifteen. I can look at you and tell what size you wear.” She handed Chino the suit. “I can ring you up over here.”
Chino and the fellas followed Tracey to a nearby register, where she rang up his suit. Chino pulled out a wad of money and paid in cash.
“Are you getting married?” Tracey asked.
“Are you asking me?” Chino asked.
“Yeah,” Tracey told him.
“Well, we just met,” Chino smiled, “but I guess that I’ll take a chance and marry you.”
Tracey laughed. “Oh, a sense of humor! Silly! You wouldn’t want to marry me.”
“Why not?” Chino asked.
“Because I’m bossy. I don’t think you could handle me.”
“Wheeeew!” Infa ran his eyes up and down her body, and he and Chris J gave each other dap again.
Chino looked her up and down and nodded. “I can handle you.”
“You think so?” Tracey smiled. “A few have tried, but none have managed to tame me yet.”
“Hey, I’m an expert tamer,” Chino said, biting his bottom lip.
“I’ll bet you are,” she told him. “What have you tamed so far?” She looked at Chino and her brown eyes sparkled, awaiting an answer from him.
Chino shrugged. “Whatever has come my way that needed taming.”
“I have a really wild and mean cat named Pussy. You think you could tame my precious Pussy?”
“Hot damn!” Chris J shouted.
Infa bit his lip.
“I think that I could,” Chino told her.
She wrote her telephone number down on the back of his receipt. “Here’s my number. Call me and we’ll see if you can tame that wild cat of mine.”
Chino tucked her number away. “Bet.”
Chino, Infa, and Chris J headed out of Dillard’s through the mall toward Foley’s. They were halfway through the mall when they ran across a group of GI Boys.
“There them niggas go right there!” Infa said.
They spotted one another at the same time. The GI Boys went for their guns, and so did Infa, Chino, and Chris. Chris fired first, putting a bullet through the chest of one of the Gary Indiana Boys.
Gunfire erupted like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Mall shoppers dove for cover and others began to flee. Screaming, shouting mall patrons ran from the scene, some getting caught in the crossfire. Infa tapped Chino on his shoulder and nodded toward Dillard’s.
“Let’s go back through the store and get the hell outta here!” Infa shouted.
Chino nodded. “Chris, we outta here!”
Chris took aim and popped another GI Boy in the back. “I’m Audi five thousand!”
The three of them fled through Dillard’s, out the door, and into the parking lot. They passed the police on the way in but blended in with the other fleeing mallgoers.
“We served them hoes!” Infa shouted once they reached the Land Cruiser.
“Punk-ass hoes!” Chris J said, still hype. “They’ll take their ass back to Gary now!”
“Showed ’em they fucking with the wrong niggas!” Infa added.
Chino climbed behind the wheel and thought about what had just taken place. The shootouts were coming too close now. He was supposed to have gotten out of the game and be long gone from Columbus by now, but all of a sudden, things in his life had taken a turn for the worse. Pam had went left with this nigga Erik. Young Mike killed himself. Things were way off from where he thought they would be. He had to get things right again. He had to. Maybe Tracey would bring him some good luck. Maybe that’s what he needed, a complete change: a change of crew, a change of scenery, and a change in women. One thing was for certain, his life needed to change.
Chapter 43
If
“Hello?”
“Sissy, what’s up?”
“Hey, Ty! What’s my big bro up to?”
Ty Xavier was Pam’s older brother. The two of them grew up real close and had remained so ever since. Ty resembled their mother on the outside but had his
father’s habits and mannerisms. He loved Pam and would forever think of her as his baby sister.
“I just got off the phone with Mom,” Ty told her.
“Oh, Lord!” Pam said, rolling her eyes and sighing.
“You already know what it is,” Ty told her.
“You know how dramatic Mom can be.”
Ty laughed. “I know. That’s your mother, Sissy!”
Pam joined in the laughter. “Uh-uh, don’t put her on me. That’s your mother too!”
“Sissy, what’s this I hear about you getting married?”
Again, Pam exhaled. “I have a fiancé.”
“What do you really know about this dude?”
“Chino?” Pam asked. “I know everything about him.”
“You know he’s in the game?” Ty asked.
Pam was stunned into momentary silence. “Where . . . where did you hear that?”
“Mom gave me his name and I did some checking. I called some partners of mine in Columbus. He just got out of prison?”
“It was a bad charge.”
“You knew!” Ty exploded. “I can’t believe this! You knew that he had been in prison before?”
“Ty, why are you tripping?”
“Tripping? You talking about marrying a nigga who just got out of the joint, and you say I’m tripping?”
“He’s a good person.”
“A good person? So you know that he’s a drug dealer too, huh?”
Pam exhaled and allowed her silence to speak for her.
“I can’t believe this,” Ty told her. “You want to marry a dope dealer who’s been to prison? What are you thinking, sis? What on earth has happened to you? You used to have more sense than this. I can’t believe that this is the same Sissy that I grew up with.”
“I’m the same person, Ty, and that’s the point. I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to make any irrational decisions. Trust me and believe in me like you always have.”
“You don’t know this guy, Sissy. He’s not like us, or like the people we grew up with. He’s a real street cat.”
“I do know him. He’s really sweet, and vulnerable, and he has a heart of gold. He makes me laugh, Ty, and we have so much fun together. He reminds me so much of you.”
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