Still in close quarters, blood seeping from her wound, Tristan grappled for his blade hand once more. Her teeth ground against each other in a mad smile as she exerted the last of her strength into squeezing his wrist. Something popped in her grasp and the blade fell. Mulysa stifled a cry. Tristan head-butted him, which sent him to the floor. She bounded on top of him, grabbing for anything within reach. Handfuls of donut wrappers and moldy paper, and crammed them into Mulysa's mouth. She pressed a wadded up back of McDonald's into his face, blindly lashing out at him.
Heavy thuds at the door halted them.
"Police!" a voice cried.
Mulysa let go first only enough to check Tristan's reaction. If she flexed, they'd be right back fighting. But Tristan didn't move and allowed Mulysa to back away a few steps. He smoothed out his clothes, lip bleeding, fumed, trying to catch his breath.
"Don't make me go all P Diddy on you, nukka. Send you to Haughville and have you fetch me some breast milk from a Korean woman to wash down some donuts from Long's."
"This shit ain't over." Tristan turned toward the window. "Deuces."
The Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood had been designated a sensitive area. Riots broke out a few years back, over what no one quite remembered. However, the Black Panthers were active here, as was the Nation of Islam, and various church leaders. Each with good intentions, to help those forgotten by the system, give voice to those whose cries went unheard. To draw attention to the plight of their brothers and sisters. Each out to save their community… and in the process, either make names for themselves or prove their continuing relevance. King, Dred, and Rellik gathered at Good Hope. News of Colvin's effrontery traveled the vine quickly. A crisis was inevitable. Though neither Dred nor Rellik signed on with King, they were curious to see how he'd manage to lead them. It was his test. They knew they couldn't send in their usual troops. Street-level soldiers were fine if Colvin was a street knucklehead encroaching on territory or this was a case of some other day-in-the-life bullshit. Once things got… supernatural, only a few were qualified. Or experienced enough. Judging from Rok's reaction to what was going on, his face a mix of skepticism and trepidation, they'd be lost out there on their own. Merle ushered Dred and Rellik inside, but Baylon lingered back, catching Dred's attention. King studied the poor wretch. He remembered his confident, flexing gait, built like a human Rottweiler with half-closed eyes as if bored. Not this thinned, ashy creature whose eyes were cratered within wrinkles.
"What happened to you, man?" King asked.
"After Michelle, you left me. Cut me out of your life." Baylon still felt things. He always had. His momma always said that was his problem: he felt things too deeply. It was why she believed he wasn't cut out for this here game. Every time he saw King, he wanted to apologize, to beg for forgiveness for fucking everything up. Nothing was the same: not the crew, not the block, not the family, not him. Everything got so disconnected. Everyone had to go their own way if only to not be reminded of what had been. Or what could have been. "It was too much."
"We were like brothers."
"That's why it hurt me so deep."
"You should've said that."
"I was a different man then."
"Look at you now. Out to save the whole hood. Everyone's redeemable, right?"
"Right."
"Even me?"
"Even… you. But you can't just say 'I'm sorry' as if that's all there is to it. You've got to change your ways. Prove that you've changed. Make up for some of the hurts you've caused. You may not make things right, but it's a start."
"What about us?"
"I done told you, too much time's passed. What we were…"
"Aces."
"We won't be again. Different time. Different place. Different man."
"But, if I could show I've changed…"
"We'll see. One step at a time." King didn't want to extinguish all hope, especially when his tenor reeked of wanting things… the way they used to be.
Ambition was the headiest of drugs. In its name, Dred was ready to sacrifice them – Baylon, Griff, Night, and Rellik – to get their power and reign supreme in the Egbo Society. Had no problem leaving Baylon to take the fall for it all. From there, with the power and mantle of authority, he would demand a place among the dons. Craddock. Bedivere. Howell. Fat old men whose time had passed. The dons collected tribute far removed from the street. He would be the young blood, the vision, necessary to take them to the next level.
Rellik studied Dred and thought about Wayne. In them he saw his future and alternate present. In Dred, he knew all the life would offer him. His days would be no more than chasing dollars, fending off takeovers, living life on a razor edge which threatened to slit his throat if he fell wrong. The life of the gun: putting down enemies only to have new ones rise up. It never ended and the thought exhausted him.
On the other hand, Wayne's was a life he couldn't imagine having. One equally fraught with peril, but buoyed by friendship. Loyalty. Trust. Life. Concepts all too alien to his reality. Rellik wanted to die. More like he was ready for it. He all but said goodbye to Wayne the last time they talked.
"You tippin' out?" Wayne asked. The summit conversation still heavy on his mind.
"I'm done, Wayne," Rellik said. "Ain't got the heart for it no more."
"Words like that could get you killed out here."
"I got it handled."
"Where you going to go?" Wayne grabbed his arm lightly. "I got a couch."
"Looking out for your big brother? I got a place in mind. It's OK." He hugged Wayne then broke free.
Tired of the killing, tired of the death, tired of the senselessness, Rellik knew he'd never be free of this life because he was in it too deep. No one would just let him out. Those under him would take him out to replace him. Those above him couldn't just let him out as a free agent. He knew too much, knew where too many bodies were buried. Ride or die or not, Rellik wouldn't be trusted. He didn't want to die crying for his mama like most men did in the end. He just wanted to go home.
"Colvin done lost his Goddamned mind," Rellik shouted.
"So it's begun," Merle said.
"What do we know about him?" King asked.
"He one of them Baltimore niggas," Dred said.
"He East Coast?" King asked.
"Naw, Baltimore Avenue. East side. Three-O Baltimore, forty-second and Post, tenth Street Dime Life. You know how they run."
"Just as soon split your wig as say please," Rellik said.
"Happy trappin' and gun slappin'," Merle said.
"Can't you do something about him?" Rellik asked.
His irritation at Merle reminded King of Wayne. Only then did he realize that he was about to mount a campaign and none of his most trusted people were with him. Wayne was tied up with Outreach Inc. who knew where Lott and Lady G were. Even Percy was nowhere to be found. Only Merle stood by him. The empty seats at the table mocked him. King bridged his fingers in front of him as Dred and Rellik spoke. He'd been so tired lately, so off his game, his mind harried and soft. He didn't know Rellik and certainly didn't trust Dred. However, matters of mutual self-interest bound them to him.
"He's right. Colvin's doing what he loves. There's no talking to him," Dred pushed. King felt like he was leading him. There was always the trap of the precipice with his words.
"What you fittin' to do? Make a citizen's arrest?" Rellik asked.
"We stop him." King didn't know what he meant, what all he was willing to do. He had to walk lightly between being a snitch and needing police involvement. But Merle was right, Colvin was above their pay grade. It was the same reason they would have to face Colvin themselves, not send in their soldiers.
Dred pounced on the opening. "King's right. We aren't peaceable people. We fight for it. We take it. It's over."
"You hood as fuck, man," Rellik said. "That's your answer to everything."
"What say you, O Prince of Nap?" Dred said with a hint of contempt.
"Car
eful now," Merle said, though to King or to Dred no one was sure.
"Heavy be the head," Dred said, a serpent whispering into King's ear. "Don't grasp after power if you aren't prepared to wield it."
Rising from his seat, King released the magazine of his Caliburn. Pressing against the spring, he thumbed the top shell then palmed the magazine back into the grip. He tucked it into the waistband of his jeans, the grip turned rightward. Easily grasped by his right hand, it felt as natural in his dip as a sword in its scabbard. "Let's go."
"That's my young dude." Dred glanced back to King. "Time to tool up, son."
Smoke damaged the brick of the building façade from a fire over a decade ago. The cramped alcove, dark from the broken lights, but not black like the steep stairwells of the Phoenix Apartments, smelled of piss and neglect.
On the tip of Omarosa, they had run Rondell Cheldric, aka "Mulysa", through the Bureau of Criminal Identification. His sheet ran longer than anything he had presumably read, a litany of assaults, robberies, suspected in three rape cases – he even did a bid on a manslaughter – Mulysa was a keg of dynamite searching for an excuse to blow.
Huddled in the entranceway, the overhang was large enough to hold Lee and Cantrell and the first of the SWAT officers who held the breaching ram. Lee pressed his ear against the door, listening for any sound. Nothing. Cantrell flanked him. His case, his suspect, his bust, Lee would take the door, he told them plainly, not a man to be trifled with when it came to taking doors. Playtime stopped and everyone became strict professionals because taking doors was ten seconds of life or death. Octavia arrived on scene to supervise the take-down.
"Police!" he shouted and his fists thudded against the door. Lee took a deep breath. With his gun aimed at the floor in his right hand, Lee raised his left to count things down. Backing away from the door, they all gave head nods to signal that they were ready.
Three.
Two.
One.
The SWAT officer swung the ram. The door jambs splintered as his momentum carried him through. The men fanned in, eyes darting about. "Police!"
Taking one step into the foyer, Lee tried to determine if anyone was in the house. Flashlight beams cut through the darkness, criss-crossing like sabers. Omarosa said this Mulysa character stayed here. At times there were other squatters, but Mulysa was all about playing well with others and thus was probably alone by now. He had a way of creating messes that came back on him. The commotion continued as the word "Police" was shouted in the back rooms followed by the response "Clear!" They trudged through a carpet of fast-food wrappers and animal droppings. Lee grew disgusted that anyone lived here at all. Lee thought he heard something from somewhere in back. A furtive movement by a back window. They cleared the closets leaving only the bathroom at the end of the hall. The door was locked.
"You in there?" Lee demanded.
"Yes."
"Rondell Cheldric?"
"Yes." The voice sounded calm to the point of sounding rather annoyed.
"Come out. We want to talk to you."
"Can it wait?"
"No." Lee glanced at Cantrell with a perturbed, yet "is this guy for real" expression. Lee kicked in the door, fearing evidence being flushed. Mulysa stood at the sink, unflinching as his door crashed in, standing in front of a cracked mirror daubing a knot under his eye. His dingy clothes gave him the appearance of a postal carrier who did double duty as a trash collector. From the stench, the only evidence flushed needed to be.
"Hands where we can see them," Lee said.
Mulysa finished wiping his face. Either he was as cool as they came, or just plain stupid. He underestimated how close he came to getting his ticket punched with each uncooperative second.
"Can I help you?" Mulysa asked.
"We got a few questions for you," Lee said.
"No need for the drama. I would've let you in, but as you can see, I was, um, indisposed."
"You're coming with us."
"Sure." Mulysa had about reached his point. His blood was up after his tussle with Tristan and his head a little murky as he came down from his high. The cloak of civility strained him to breaking.
"We doing this hard or easy?" Lee stepped near to him, protecting himself through intimidation so that he didn't have to use force. Of course, the suspect had to be bright enough to perceive the threat.
"Nothing but easy. I didn't do nothin', so I got nothin' to hide."
Cantrell knew poor. Since he grew up poor, his heart went out to them even if he stopped short of respecting them. His mother made the best home that she could amid their own squalor. What little they had she took care of: swept her porch, kept pictures on the fridge, ironed their threadbare clothes. Another type of poor deserved their mess. If the corners of the room smelled of piss, the way a shooting gallery would or if food piled up and molded along the counters or floors. Mulysa had been reduced to living like an animal, and didn't seem to much mind. Cantrell rifled through a pile of clothes and overturned couch cushions. A bag jangled as soon as he jostled it.
"Look what I found," Cantrell chirped, toting a gym bag filled with an assortment of exotic knives. Lee took the machete in his gloved hand, inspecting it.
"Look here, you Uncle Tomming motherfucker," Mulysa reared with a litany of insults and eyefucks Cantrell had come to expect. "Them's my bitches."
"You like big knives?" Lee asked.
"Put her down."
"Give it a rest, Lee," Octavia started.
"What's the matter, Rondell?" Lee continued being a shit. Sometimes he couldn't help being such a cop. He ran his hand along the blade, deliberate and slow.
"Don't you touch her." A strain found its way into Mulysa's voice.
Cantrell rested a meaty hand on Mulysa's shoulder, while he reached for a set of bracelets.
"Oh that's the way it is. You like that, huh?" Lee turned the blade over in his hands, an awkward fondling, antagonizing the twitch in Mulysa's eyes.
"No one touches her but me," Mulysa said.
"Maybe she doesn't mind stepping out on you."
"Dirty bitch."
With a wiry strength that they'd all underestimated, Mulysa easily slipped from Cantrell's grasp. The detective grabbed after him immediately, but the way Mulysa fought, Cantrell suspected he was up on something. Lee grabbed two handfuls of the man's shirt and shoved him into a wall. Despite the awkward angle and purchase, Mulysa lifted him from his feet. Cantrell punched him in his kidneys. Mulysa twisted and put his shoulder into the landing, taking the air out of Lee. By the time they were on him, Mulysa had Lee on the ground, punching him in the face. In the ensuing scuffle, Octavia caught a stray elbow in her eye. Even with Cantrell on one arm and Octavia on the other, Mulysa threw his body at Lee. He pushed off several detectives until the three of them pinned him down. Octavia was on the radio, calling for patrolmen. She put her knee into Mulysa's back as Cantrell fitted the cuffs onto his wrists. Lee staggered to his feet, only managed a half-hearted stomp on the thug before Cantrell pulled him up.
The door was ajar when they arrived at Rhianna's place. Many times Percy had begged her to move. He offered for her to stay with him where he could protect her. But Rhianna had her situation set up. Between being an emancipated teen, with Section 8 housing, and food stamps, she got by with a little hooking on the side. Percy had already checked in with his brothers and made sure they'd eaten and done their homework before walking Rhianna home. As much as he wanted to be with King, his first duty was to his family. So when the door wasn't completely shut, he put up his beefy arm barring Rhianna from passing. He pushed the door open and flicked on the light.
The place had been tossed. Quickly and not thorough, the thieves snatched anything of easy reach and quick resale value. He walked slowly through the house though he knew they were long gone. It was a terrible thing when your own home no longer felt safe. Stopping at each doorway, he prayed for God's protection on the house – for the reality of His presence to be made real for him.
For a moment, guilt flashed in him. It wasn't but a few months ago he himself had broken into this apartment in search of anything of value in the name of his crack-fiend mother. He had taken a ring, but returned it later.
"It's gone," Rhianna said.
"What?"
"There was a cup, it had been in my family for years. I kept all sorts of valuables in it."
A ring. Percy knew, because that was where he returned it.
"This lady I used to stay with. Queen. She took me in and was sweet to me. She wanted me to have it. Told me I was its guardian."
King's Justice: The Knights of Breton Court, Volume 2 Page 25