Around the Way Girls 8

by Tina Brooks McKinney

  Leek was out in the front of the building. He was still on post. They had two more days and then Colonial Heights would be a wrap. The loyal fiends had been prepared and told where they could find some good diesel. Kevin wasn’t stupid; he knew that even though his time may have been up in Colonial that there was still going to be drug sales made and since he had invested so much into the neighborhood, he felt that it was only right that he get a cut of the profits. Leek would be the man to keep it pumping along with a few new fearless recruits.

  “Everything good out here?” Kevin asked him.

  “Yeah, I mean, I seen a couple’a ducks, but I ain’t give ’em no love.”

  “Yeah, yo, they comin’ on strong. Shit, we may need to wrap this shit up tonight.”

  “Word?” Those were words Leek never expected to hear from his boss.

  “Ay yo, Kev,” Buddah called.

  Kevin saw Buddah coming his way. He wasn’t expecting to see him. He thought he was still locked up. It had been a long time since Kevin had physically seen Buddah. When Kevin came out of jail Buddah had just gone to jail.

  “Yo, Buddah, what it do.” Kevin put his hand out to give Buddah dap and was met with a gunshot to the chest. “Blou!”

  Buddah held the gun to Kevin’s head and pulled the trigger again. “Blou!”

  Kevin lay still in a pool of blood in front of the building. Leek couldn’t believe what was happening. He didn’t know what to do. Leek didn’t have a gun on him because of all of the extra attention they had been getting from the police. He used his headset to tell Rich and Kelly. He looked at Kevin and saw that there was no need to call 911. He was dead.

  “Yo, they just shot Kev,” he yelled into the mouthpiece.

  Kelly didn’t have her headset on, but it was near her and she thought she had just heard Leek say that they had shot Kev. Please God, please, please, no, please. Kelly put her headset on and heard Rich and Leek crying. She knew that it was true. She grabbed her gun and ran out of her apartment. Kelly didn’t wait for the elevator. She ran down the stairs with her mind racing in a thousand different directions. Visions of her mother flashed through her head, followed by visions of her brother when he was a baby, then a little boy, then them together as teenagers. Kelly hit the lobby of her building and ran outside. She saw a crowd standing around and she went dead into it. She was halted in her tracks by the horrid sight of what was left of her brother. Kelly fell to her knees and threw herself onto Kevin’s body. She began crying, yelling and screaming.

  “Who did this? Who could do something like this?” she cried. Kelly sat on the ground with her brother’s dreads in one hand and a gun in the other. Her brother’s head was split in two and the bullet that had penetrated his chest tore straight through his flesh.

  “Buddah did that shit,” Laquisha screamed. She had heard the shots and ran down to see Buddah running off.

  Buddah was on his way out of the projects when he was stopped by a police patrol car. Instead of facing the music like a man he turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger like the bitch that he was. Buddah used Kelly to get him out of jail so that he could put an end to the man who stole his shine. In Buddah’s eyes Colonial Heights belonged to Buddah and only Buddah. Well, now Colonial Heights belonged to whoever wanted to carry the torch.

  The knot in Kelly’s stomach was the size of a basketball. She couldn’t breathe. She thought that she was going to die right then and there along with her brother. Her mother was gone and now her brother was gone, leaving her all alone in this world. Why would Buddah do this to her after she helped him get out? It was if she had killed her own brother. Kelly couldn’t understand how people could be so devious, but she was ready to retaliate. That bitch, Dora, I’ma kill that bitch, she thought.

  “Yo, Buddah just shot hisself,” Laquisha screamed as ran back from seeing where he had gone.

  Kelly kissed her brother on the cheek and slid his body off of her. She stood up, wiped her bloody hands on her jeans, and disappeared back into the building. There were cops coming her way and she had something she needed to take care of first. Kelly was glad to hear that Buddah had killed himself. That was one less person she had to kill. She took the stairs up and made it to her floor. Kelly walked toward Dora’s apartment door with pure rage and hatred in her heart. Killing Dora was her only outlet. The amount of guilt she felt for giving Dora the money to bail out her brother’s killer was overwhelming.

  “Open the door, bitch,” Kelly cried.

  Dora’s door didn’t open and she didn’t answer.

  “I said open your fuckin’ door, bitch,” Kelly screamed, while punching and kicking the door.

  “Kelly!” Dante called.

  Immanently he knew that she needed him. So when Dante heard the call over the radio he immediately responded. When he arrived and saw all of what was going on outside of Colonial Heights he recognized Laquisha and questioned her. She admitted to him that Buddah had shot Kevin and that Kelly had gone back inside and that she had a gun.

  “Come on, baby, it’s not worth it,” he told her, attempting with all his might to persuade her to stop her quest for death.

  “Fuck that, Dante, my baby brother’s is gone,” she shrieked.

  “I know, baby, but he wouldn’t want you to end your life too. Not like this.”

  Kelly cried as she continued to bang on Dora’s door. She was taking her anger and frustration out on the metal door and it was taking quite a beating from her small, but strong hand.

  “Give me the gun, Kelly.”

  “No!”

  Dante came closer to her. He knew the condition she was in and he didn’t want to push her. The locks on Dora’s door began to unlock. Dante was hoping that the tenant did not give Kelly what she thought she wanted, which was the access to kill.

  Dora kept her chain on her door and spoke through the door. She had watched the whole incident from her window.

  “Kelly, baby, please, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for anything to happen to your brother. If I’da known that Buddah was gon’ do him like that I swear I would’na got him out. I would’a smoked your money up,” Dora said, crying sorrowfully.

  All Kelly could do stand there and cry. Her heart had become so heavy. She knew that she couldn’t blame Dora for Buddah’s actions, and that Dora had only done what she had told her she’d better do, but Dora was the only one besides herself that was still alive that she could blame.

  “Come on, baby, give me the gun,” Dante said with his hand extended.

  Kelly slowly handed Dante her .380.

  “That’s my girl, you made the right choice,” he told her as he took the .380 into his possession.

  All of a sudden a flood of police officers came rushing up and out of both staircases.

  “Freeze,” one of the police officers yelled.

  Dante was in plainclothes. He turned around to show the officers his badge. Dante’s sudden move made one of the rookies react prematurely as he shot his gun and it went off. All you could hear was screaming and yelling. Officers were yelling at the rookie officer for acting too soon. Dante was yelling at his fellow officers for not recognizing him for who he was and putting innocent lives in danger. And Dora was yelling at the police officers, accusing them of trying to kill her. With all of the confusion and drama surrounding her, Kelly slipped into her apartment to grieve.

  Chapter 13

  New Beginnings

  Kelly was at the gun range. She had just shot 120 out of 120, which was unheard of for a police cadet. Dante stood by smiling. He was proud of his protégé, but little did he know, it was her late brother, Kevin, who trained her to be the expert shooter that she was. It had been six months and training was over with Kelly about to graduate at the top of her class. The last six months had been the most challenging and invigorating months of her life. She took criminal justice classes that really opened her eyes to the magnitude of the broad spectrum that law enforcement actually covered. The defensive driving training w
as an adventure. Kelly got a lot of satisfaction out of whippin’ their vehicles around the driving course. She also learned how to perform CPR in order to save lives.

  Besides Dante being there for her, she had made a lot of good friends in the Police Academy. Having good people in her life made the transition from the streets to the law a lot easier. It also helped her deal with the loss of Kevin. There were over a thousand people at her brother’s funeral. Kelly was shocked to see so many people there, since he had been locked up for so long. She was glad, however, that so many people had come out to show her brother the love and respect that he deserved.

  “You did real good out there today, baby,” Dante told her as they drove home.

  “Thank you. I’m havin’ a lot of fun. I didn’t know it would be like this,” Kelly said, sincerely.

  “I knew you would make a great police officer. I told you,” Dante said, beaming from ear to ear.

  “Yeah, baby, you did,” she said, smiling back.

  “You ready for tomorrow?” he asked her. Her graduation ceremony was taking place in the morning.

  “Most definitely,” she said with supreme confidence.

  The graduation ceremony was an event that Kelly would never forget. Due to her graduating with honors, she was asked to deliver a speech for the ceremony. Kelly had never delivered anything except packages of drugs and money, but she dug deep and was told by her inner voice to instead give a poem in honor of the memory of her mother and her brother.

  My mouth says I love you everyday

  But the scale will never tell you what my love truly weighs

  I was the reason for the burden on your shoulders

  As the burden got heavier, we grew stronger, as we got older

  As cold as this life is, thoughts of you should bring me to tears

  But now it’s my turn to get my hands dirty—to protect and to serve

  To give you the daughter and the sister that you both deserve

  Hopefully making up for all of the years in which I didn’t have the nerve

  I know I’m not perfect—none of us are—in any way

  But you were the perfect mother and brother for me—and I’ll love you everyday.

  Kelly admired herself in the full-length mirror inside of their bedroom closet. She looked fly in her police uniform as she slicked her fiery red ponytail back and adjusted her belt. This was her first day on the force and she was excited and a little nervous. Dante had already left to start his day. She didn’t want them to arrive together. It was bad enough they were working in the same precinct. Kelly didn’t want any favoritism shown to her because of Dante. He had insisted that Kelly work out of his precinct. If something happened to her and he wasn’t able to get to her, he would never forgive himself.

  The parking lot was almost full, but Kelly managed to find a spot and pulled her Lexus into it. She walked into the precinct as a New York City police officer for the very first time and it felt great. Kelly saw a man in uniform sitting at a desk. Being new to the job, she wasn’t sure of what she should do first, so she asked. She found herself in a roomful of police officers. She scanned the room, but she didn’t see Dante anywhere. The police sergeant began the roll call. Kelly spoke up when she heard her name called. After hearing several cases that were a point of interest to their unit, she was paired off with another officer, Officer Rouse. He was to be her partner. Kelly took a good look at the tall and lanky blond-haired, blue-eyed white male she was going to be spending her shift time with. She never really fucked with white people like that before. This is going to be interesting, she thought.

  “Hey, there, Morgan, how are you feeling?” he asked her, then smiled with his thin lips shut.

  “I feel good,” she said in an upbeat manner.

  “Good, that’s a good thing. Well, let’s hit it,” he said.

  They walked outside into the brisk winter air. Officer Rouse walked toward their squad car. Kelly followed him. Dante saw Kelly and pulled his Charger up alongside of their squad car.

  “Hey there, rookie,” he called to her, grinning hard.

  “Hey,” Kelly said, both happy and relieved to see him.

  “You take care of her, Rouse,” Dante told his fellow officer.

  “Oh, I’ve got her, Evans,” he assured Dante.

  “Unit 7210 . . .” the radio dispatcher called.

  Kelly heard the dispatcher on the radio and it was on. She knew this was it. Rouse looked at her as he answered the call.

  “This is unit 7210.”

  “Unit 7210, we have a shoplifting incident at Payless Shoes on Broadway. Suspect is a black female approximately five-five and a hundred and fifty pounds. She has long black hair, not believed to be her own. I believe store security has her in their custody, but she’s giving them hell.”

  “Unit 7210, copy, we’re on the way.”

  “Roger that, unit 7210.”

  “Well, this is it, kiddo. This is what you signed up for. You ready?” Rouse asked her.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Kelly said. She looked over at Dante and winked as their squad car screeched away from the curb.

  There was a crowd of people standing in front of the Payless shoe store on Broadway. As Kelly and her partner exited the vehicle they were met with boos and other snide remarks. Kelly now knew what it felt like to be on the other side. As she came into the store she could see the back of the female suspect and she was giving the security staff an earful of not-so-nice words. She immediately recognized the voice and she couldn’t believe that this was going to be her first arrest.

  “Fuck that, I ain’t steal shit. Y’all better muthafuckin’ let me go. Shit, I gotta get home to my kids.”

  “Tell it to the police,” the security officer told her.

  The female turned around ready to give the police the same drama she had just given the store’s staff and security, but when she saw who was there to take her in, her mouth fell wide open, and so did Kelly’s.

  “Oh my God, you a fuckin’ cop?” Laquisha asked

  “Oh my God, you’re pregnant again?” Kelly asked.

  Kelly looked at Laquisha’s swollen stomach. No wonder she was out there stealing again; she was about to spit out another baby that she didn’t have the resources or the money to take care of.

  “You know this lady?” Rouse asked.

  “Uh, well, yeah, I know her, but I’m probably gonna know a lot of the people I arrest.”

  “Arrest?” Laquisha exclaimed. “Bitch, you gonna arrest me? I’m carrying your brother’s fuckin’ baby and that’s how you’ gon’ do me, bitch?”

  Officer Rouse grabbed Laquisha by her arm and swung her around to cuff her. All Kelly could do was play back what Laquisha had just said. Could it really be Kevin’s baby? she thought.

  “Morgan!” Rouse called, snapping her out of her daze. “Read her her rights.”

  Kelly looked into Laquisha’s sad eyes and read her her rights. There was no way that she could do anything to help her. Not right then and especially not right there. Kelly did her job and arrested her. They led her out of the store for the crowd to see and put her in the squad car. Rouse drove back to the station so that Laquisha could be booked.

  “When are you due?” Kelly asked, curiously.

  At first Laquisha wasn’t going to answer her, but she knew that Kelly was her only chance of getting out of the mess she had gotten herself into, so she went ahead and answered.

  “In another two months,” she said with an attitude.

  Kelly thought about it. Laquisha was a ho, but she did sleep with Kevin right before he died, which would have been seven months ago.

  The next two months were like a roller coaster for Kelly. She had begged Dante to pull some strings to see to it that Laquisha didn’t have to stay in jail. Kelly wasn’t sure if Laquisha was carrying Kevin’s baby or not, but if she was, she knew that she had to help her. Dante told her that he wasn’t going to be able to help all of her hood friends get out of
trouble, but he did understand that this arrested development was indeed unique. Kelly was also trying to find out how she could prove the paternity of Laquisha’s baby with her brother no longer living. She went on the Internet and got her answers.

  The moods of the individuals in the hospital waiting room were mixed. Laquisha’s older children were all upset. Another baby meant another baby for them to have to watch while their mother was free to run the streets. Her younger children were happy. They couldn’t wait for their new playmate to arrive so that they could take him home and play with their new toy. Kelly’s nerves were on edge for several reasons. She was there with a patch of her dead brother’s hair to provide in order to determine the paternity of Laquisha’s baby and although she had just finished her shift, she had to go back to the station to complete a host of paperwork: She had just shot her first suspect.

  “You all have a new baby brother,” the nurse announced, as she came through the doors.

  Laquisha’s children all yelled and cheered with happiness, even the ones who had just been upset. They all ran past the nurse to join their mother and to see their new baby brother. Kelly walked over to the nurse to see what it was she was going to have to do to have Laquisha’s baby tested. The nurse gave her the instructions that she needed. While on her way, she passed by Laquisha’s room; Kelly stepped back and peeped in.

  “Come on in,” Laquisha said, weakly.

  “I—I don’t want to disturb y’all.”

  “Bitch, come and see your nephew,” Laquisha said, softly but proudly.

  Kelly didn’t know how Laquisha could be so sure that it was Kevin’s baby, but she had his dread in her hand and she was going to find out the real deal. As Kelly approached and took a good look at the brand-new baby wrapped up in a blue blanket, her eyes began to tear, the dread fell out of her hand, and Kelly fell to her knees. Oh my God, Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don’t believe it, she prayed.