Once the customer was gone, we were all alone in the store. He pulled me close when we were out of plain view. He rubbed my booty and kissed my neck kinda randomly.
“So are you gonna give me the two?” I said, getting back on the subject.
“I’ll give you one and a half, how’s that?” he replied.
“That’s fine.”
“I’ll call Shabazz and tell him to be expecting your call.”
“Thanks baby,” I said, as I hugged him tightly.
By now, I was really falling hard for Amir for a lot of obvious reasons. I was so focused on Keisha’s situation, I never took time to process my feelings, but I knew they were stronger than anything I’d ever felt for a man before. Amir had changed my whole life seemingly overnight. But the way he was fondling me at the moment, I realized he still didn’t really trust me. Amir was searching my body for a wire. I was upset that he didn’t trust me, but I understood why.
****
After I left Amir, I went to meet up with Shabazz. When I pulled up, he was smoking a cigarette, looking as if he was losing his patience. Shabazz was a little on the buff side, like he worked out at the gym on a regular basis. He wore sunglasses and a fitted cap to the back all the time. As much as I loved Amir, Shabazz was sexy as hell, but I could tell he didn’t talk much. We met up at a crowded mall right outside of the city. He was driving a black sports car I’d never seen before.
I hopped in the car with him and my package was already on the floor of the passenger seat. I remember it was in a fancy velvet bag with a drawstring and I was thinking, why is the bag so fucking fancy?
“You be careful, okay?” Shabazz said.
“Okay.”
“You got your piece with you?” he asked.
“My piece?” I repeated.
He reached under the steering column and pulled out a black nine-millimeter.
“Your piece?” he said.
“Oh yeah…yeah, it’s in the car,” I lied, so he wouldn’t scold me.
As I walked back to the car, it started to register that I would really need a gun. This was a dangerous game I was playing. Much more dangerous than all the dangerous games I’d played in the past. I put the dope in the trunk and went to find my sister, Carrie. I was nervous as fuck, riding around the hood, looking for her on the hoe stroll and all the hot spots I knew about. I was about to give up looking for her, but I decided to go by the stroll one last time and there she was, walking up the street. I pulled up on her and rolled the window down.
“Carrie!” I yelled.
The look in her eyes was one of total shock and happiness at once.
“Heeeeey bitch!” she yelled excitedly.
“Hurry up and get in,” I said.
She ran around to the passenger side and hopped in quickly.
“I was just saying, this looks just like my mom’s car,” she said, short of breath.
She seemed a little tipsy too.
“Listen, I gotta tell you—”
“Give me a hug, bitch, don’t act like you don’t miss me,” Carrie interrupted.
I hugged her quickly.
“Listen, Carrie, ‘cause I’m about to tell you some unbelievable shit. You know you my sister, and you’re one of the only people in the world I can trust. The shit I’m about to tell you ain’t gonna sound like it’s real, but you just gotta trust me and you gotta help me,” I explained.
“Okay,” Carrie agreed, as her smile went away and she got serious.
“There’s a kilo and a half in the trunk of the car. I need to find Bam or Gangsta or both, whoever is alive. And I need to find the old man, Johnny.”
At first, Carrie just sat there staring blankly out the window.
“And you don’t want me to ask any question ‘bout how this happened?”
“Not right now. Right now, I just really need help finding people.”
“Um…okay, well, Gangsta is back in jail. He’s doing life for a murder. After the incident that happened at his spot, he went to war with The Head Bussas and almost all of them are dead or in jail now. Bam is still out here somewhere, but he’s fell off from where you used to be.”
“What about old man, Johnny?”
“I could find Johnny. I could probably find Bam too or at least somebody that could get in touch with him. But like I said, Bam ain’t what he used to be.”
“Let’s go find Johnny,” I said, pulling off.
The old man Johnny was legendary in Toledo. He was a heroin dealer in the seventies and was rumored to be worth millions at one time. He spent the eighties in the feds and now he was nowhere near as wealthy, but he still had a lot of love and respect in the streets from what I’d heard. Some of the older tricks had dated him when they were younger and they’d talk about how he used to throw these huge extravagant parties before he went away. Nowadays, he was just trying to maintain like everyone else, but I figured he would definitely take some of this coke off of my hands.
Johnny was able to hold on to one piece of property when the feds came for him and today, he was using that one piece of property to sell drugs. I didn’t remember where the house was because I’d only been there once, but Carrie did. Most of my dealing with Johnny had been in passing, but he always flirted with me. When we arrived at the house it was like Fort Knox with all the reinforced doors and cameras. This old man didn’t take any chances. But here’s the crazy thing; when we arrived on the block, there was a black SUV like the one Bam used to drive parked out front.
“Don’t that truck look familiar?” I asked Carrie as she rang the doorbell.
“Yeah, it looks like Bam Bam’s truck,” she replied.
It even had the same rims as his truck.
“Maybe he’s here,” I said.
“Don’t tell me Bam Bam went from supplier to user,” Carrie joked.
Last thing I remembered about Johnny was he sold eight-balls and was only open from ten to ten. We rang the bell again and the doorman came and opened the door for us. His name was Frank, and I remembered him from my days with Terry. He had to open up the armored guard gate and there was another triple-bolted door. The house was a two-family flat but no one lived downstairs, so that’s where he kept some mean looking Rottweilers we could see through a second armored guard gate.
When we reached the top of the stairs, we walked in and spotted Bam Bam, sure as shit, sitting on the couch with Johnny.
“I sure am glad to see you two,” I said, smiling.
Johnny saw me and the biggest smile spread across his face.
“Hey, Roxanne, bring yo’ sexy ass over here and give me a hug,” Johnny said, in his raspy old man’s voice.
His hair was jet black in a ponytail and he wore a low-cut salt and pepper beard.
“Hey old man,” I said, as I went over and gave him a big hug.
Then I went to Bam Bam to give him a hug, but he pushed me away.
“Get off me, bitch, we ain’t cool like that,” he barked.
Bam Bam didn’t look too good. I mean, his beard was all scruffy and his face seemed to hold a thousand pounds of stress. He wore a brown Carhartt jacket, with matching wheat Timberlands that looked past their prime. I stood back and took him in.
“See, Bam, you gonna wish you treated me better when I finish what I gotta say,” I warned with confidence.
He turned his back to me and started rolling some weed up, paying me no mind. I knew if I just blurted it all out at once, they’d say I was the feds and toss me out before I finished my spiel. So, I figured it was best to speak to both men privately and hopefully, the intimate conversations would be more convincing. I pulled Johnny in the kitchen first and gave it to him straight.
“Okay, listen, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but before you say anything, I’m not working with the police and everybody knows I don’t have the balls to set anybody up.”
“Roxanne, what is you talking about? What’s going down?” he asked as he looked on, clueless.
“Okay, firs
t off, I don’t get high anymore. I’ve been clean about six months,” I lied, to give myself a little more credibility.
“Congratulations,” Johnny said.
“Thanks. Okay, so, when I got out of rehab, I met this Chaldean guy who owns a business in the neighborhood. Well, come to find out, he’s also a big-time dealer and he doesn’t know I used to get high, so he’s been giving me these packages. And he sees I can get rid of ‘em, so the packages keep getting bigger.”
“What kind of packages?” Johnny inquired.
“Like, kilos of cocaine.”
His eyes bucked like a wild bull.
“Kilos of cocaine?” he repeated, louder than he intended to.
“No bullshit, Johnny, this is straight up. I know there’s not a lot of people in these streets who are trustworthy, so I’m hoping like hell you wanna do some business with me. I’m trying really hard to get my best friend a lawyer before her trial starts.”
Johnny started pacing the floor as he lit up a cigarette.
“I hear you, Roxanne, but you do realize that’s some pretty outlandish shit you just laid on me, right?”
Johnny had seen me out on the stroll at rock bottom. I wasn’t surprised he wasn’t jumping at the opportunity.
“I know you just remember me as being this young crazy crackhead, but that’s not who I am anymore.”
“So what you come here for?”
“Okay, so, I have a kilo and a half in the trunk of the car. From what I hear, my prices are better than what’s going, so—”
“Wait, you gotta ki’s in the trunk of your car right now?”
“Yeah, one and a half.”
“Un-un,” he said, as his arm went around my back and he began to guide me to the door.
“Wait a minute, Johnny, listen—”
“Hell naw, you gotta go. Not now, but right now,” he insisted.
“I’m not the fucking po…arrghh!” I grunted in frustration as I reached the door. “Okay, Bam, will you please come talk to me outside, since he’s asking me to leave?” I begged.
Bam looked at me with the same condescending stare.
“What the fuck she talking about, Unk?” he said to Johnny.
“I’m talking about some real money, Bam. I’m leaving, Johnny, I didn’t mean any disrespect. Bam, are you coming?” I said, as Frank held the door open.
Bam never responded and I left, feeling disappointed.
“Roxanne, you gotta understand this is some crazy unbelievable shit you pitching to these guys. Shit, I’m your sister and it’s hard for me to believe,” Carrie explained, as we reached the car.
I sat behind the wheel of the car and took a deep breath. I had a ki and a half in the trunk and no buyers. Since Bam didn’t want to hear me out, I had no one else to turn to at the moment. I sat there weighing my options for a minute, thinking about the other dealers I knew who might do business with me. If I didn’t sell the dope, I could always just give it back, but then I wouldn’t be able to help Keisha. I started the car and as I went to pull off, I spotted Bam coming out of the house.
I watched his every movement and a huge sigh of relief came when he made a beeline towards my car.
“I don’t trust this dude, Roxanne. Word on the street is he’s broke,” Carrie whispered.
I rolled down my driver’s side window as Bam approached.
“Make it quick,” he said.
“Why don’t you just get in?” I said, and Carrie looked at me like I was crazy.
“Naw, I’m good. Make it quick, you know Johnny don’t like muthafuckas sitting outside his house.”
I ran the whole thing down the same way I did to Johnny, but this time I begged Bam for his help and promised him a healthy compensation. He pondered the offer. I knew he had to be in a financial strain, to even be considering my offer. He pondered a little longer.
“Follow me,” he said, and I nodded feeling a huge weight lifting.
Chapter 19
I really don’t know what I would have done without Bam’s help. From that day forward, Bam and I became almost inseparable for the next thirty days. I learned later on that the day he was at Johnny’s house; he was there trying to get Johnny to help him get back on his feet. He didn’t have money to buy anything, but he knew everybody that did and unlike me, people weren’t afraid to do business with Bam. It was perfect timing for both of us. He showed me how to break down the kilo and split it into a half, eighth, or a quarter ki. Anytime he made a sale, I was always right there. That first week, we moved five kilos and I was scared to death each time I went with him to make the deal.
I charged my people nineteen thousand and he charged his people twenty thousand, so every time he made a sale, we both made a thousand dollars. Bam even gave me the number to a good lawyer to represent Keisha in her murder trial. I began to see less of Nike and I was having it out with my mom all the time. She wasn’t pushing for me to leave her house because my deadline had been passed and I was hardly ever there. I’d be with Amir at the apartment or sometimes I’d just get a hotel to keep from bringing the drugs back to her house.
I went to see Keisha right before her trial was set to start, so I could tell her the good news in person. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face. Finally, I was doing something right. When she came in the room I could tell she was happy to see me again by the way her face lit up. She’d put on a little weight since the last time I visited her.
“Hey,” Keisha spoke as she sat down.
“You getting fat.”
“Fuck you, mind your business,” she replied.
“You are my business.”
“Whatever. Thank you for the money and the pictures of Nike. He is so adorable.”
“He takes after his mom of course,” I bragged.
“Listen to you. I see somebody is back to feeling themselves. You look like you doing extra good for yourself,” she admitted.
I knew she was referring to my designer clothes, as well as my clean and healthy appearance. Bam had taken me to the Gucci store in the mall, as a thank you for helping him bounce back.
“I’m making it. But I got some good news.”
“I could use some good news.”
“Okay, I didn’t wanna say anything until I was absolutely sure, but I found a good lawyer to represent you for the trial.”
“Whatchu mean?” Keisha said.
“I mean, I got you an attorney.”
She paused.
“Who’s paying for it?”
“I am.”
“With what?”
“Money.”
“From where?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Roxanne…”
“What?”
“This is my life I’m fighting for, I don’t got time to play fucking games with you,” Keisha lashed out, staring intensely.
“I’m not playing fucking games, Keisha, for once, I’m doing something for somebody else and it feels damn good. I just need you to trust me and let me do this okay? Now—”
“But my trial starts in two days.”
“He’s gonna get it postponed, so he can have time to go over the case with you.”
“And how much is this lawyer gonna cost?”
“Keisha, the money is not important and I don’t wanna tell you how much, because I’m afraid you’ll lose faith in me. Just know that I gave him a nice size down payment to start with, and I’m gonna get him the rest before the trial is over.”
Keisha was just looking at me as if she was trying to read me, searching for the truth.
“Roxanne, I don’t know what’s going on with you all of a sudden, but if you’re being truthful, I just can’t thank you enough. If you got a lawyer that can help me beat this, I will owe you my life!”
“Well, I probably already owe you mine so we’d just be even,” I said.
We both laughed and I could see a small tear hugged in the corner of her eye. “Don’t start crying, ‘cause then I’ll cry an
d we’ll both be looking stupid.”
“Shut up,” she giggled. “I love you, best friend.”
I never felt more proud when I heard Keisha say those words after all I had done.
“I love you more, best friend.”
****
After I left the jail, I went up to the cell phone shop to spend some time with Amir. I’d been ripping and running so much the past few days, I started to miss him and I could tell he missed me a little too. I was there so long he started showing me things about the business, like how to take customers’ payments and print out receipts. I took a couple of payments from customers, while he took some important phone calls. It made me feel good that he trusted me to participate in his legal and illegal activities.
At first, I used to wonder how Amir and I grew so close so quickly. I wondered why none of the hustlers I was dealing with never had any connections to him. I soon learned that Amir wasn’t from Toledo. He’d actually grown up in Detroit and had only been in Toledo for a couple years. He and his family moved when things got hot for them in Detroit. He didn’t have as many connections here as he’d had in Detroit, but he was still plugged, so in a way we were both a blessing in disguise to one another. Bam started blowing my phone up and I knew he wanted more coke.
He’d quickly saved up enough money to buy himself a nice package, so he opened up a new crack house in the hood and recruited new employees. It was back to business for him, but I still needed him to help me move my stuff, so we would meet up at the same time every day and I’d make my rounds. I kept the drugs in a hotel every night and Bam was the only person allowed to come there. When I left Amir, I headed to the hotel to meet up with Bam. Amir made me promise I would spend the night with him and I agreed. When I got to the hotel I spotted Bam’s truck outside. We met up at the front entrance and I noticed his gear was fresh, like he’d been shopping again. I wanted to give some advice on his spending habits, but I knew he’d curse me out.
Roxanne: From Addict to Hustler Page 16