The War Report

by King Benjamin

  Jay glanced around, looking at the table Ray Ray and friends sat, then at the floor and back into Michelle’s eyes.

  “Are you guys ready to order, or do you need a moment?” The waitress said, interrupting Jay’s thought process.

  Knowing what she wanted, Michelle went ahead and placed her order and Jay followed. The waitress took the menus and left swiftly.

  “Michelle, I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman that compares to you in my entire life. I think I just wanted to make it work so bad, that I was willing to get outside of my character in order to do it. It was selfish to lie to protect myself from losing you, but to be honest, if I had it to do over I’d probably make the same decision.”

  “Lose me? Why would you lose me? What is it about your life that you’re not telling me? Just lay it all out for me now, and let’s go from there.”

  “Well, what I wasn’t telling you is what you found out. I have friends that live a dangerous lifestyle. Friends that get shot and killed sometimes because of it. I come from the very same lifestyle. I played the cards I was dealt in life, and I managed to get ahead, but not without a price.”

  “Wait… Are you saying you are a drug dealer?”

  “I’m saying, I’ve done things in my life that a lot of people probably wouldn’t agree with, including you.”

  Michelle grabbed her purse and prepared to make her exit. No way was this the man for her. “This conversation is over. I’ve heard enough.”

  Jay grabbed her hand to prevent her from standing up to leave. “Listen. Don’t judge me before you know my real life. I’m sure it’s easy to sit there and say I was wrong for my life choices, but you’ve never been in my shoes. Our backgrounds are different, our parents were different, and as a man, I had to find my own way with the only resources I had available.”

  “You don’t understand. I’m currently up for a promotion that would make me the face of the Channel Six news team. I can’t date a drug dealer!”

  “I’m not asking you to date a drug dealer. I’m asking you to forgive my past and build a future with me.”

  “I… I pride myself on being a person of integrity. A person with a love for the community and someone who wants to be a part of the positive changes this city needs. Your past goes against everything I believe in.”

  Jay finally released her hand and sat back in his chair gazing in her eyes. He felt like his world could be crumbling, and at that very moment, there wasn’t anything he could say that would change things.

  “So let me ask you something. This positive change you see for the city of Detroit; where would it leave someone like me? What do you do? Lock us all up in a cage and throw away the key?”

  “We all have to make our own decisions in life, Jason, and we all have to be held responsible. I’ll admit you are someone I saw myself building a future with. You’re everything I could ask for in a man, except the fact that I can’t trust you. I can’t even trust you to be around for the long haul. Like you said, people from your walk of life die all the time, and I’m usually one of the people who hear about it first. How could you expect us to work?”

  “You didn’t answer my question. What would you do with people like me?”

  Michelle took a deep breath and thought the question over before answering.

  “I think if people are willing to make a change, and not still continue to travel down the same road of ghetto street life bullshit, then everyone deserves a second chance. But I think if you’re going to continue down the same path and you’re part of the problem, then yeah, maybe you should be put away where you can’t wreak havoc on society.”

  “So why don’t you help me with the transition? Instead of running out on me, how about you help me with the change? Help me become a productive member of society.”

  “Can you?”

  “Michelle, I’m not a monster. Come on now, I’ve done some things in my life, but you should know by now that I have a good heart.”

  “Maybe so, Jason, but I mean… this is really bad timing even if I—”

  “I don’t have anything in my past that could come back to haunt you. I’ve never been convicted of a crime, so as far as anyone outside of the underworld knows, I’m an entrepreneur. That’s all I’ll ever be known as.”

  “But this is your life, you just said it. Your friends are your friends, that’s not going to change even if—”

  “I just need you to believe in me. If you leave now, where’s my motivation to move forward with change? Just believe in me, and I promise you won’t ever regret it.”

  Deep down inside Michelle wanted to believe in Jay. She was never the type of person to be easily misled, but she was a woman who believed in second chances. She knew if she went forward with a romantic relationship with Jay, from this point on, it could be life altering and she’d have no one else to blame but herself. She contemplated.

  “Can you really see yourself cutting all your ties to your past life?” Michelle asked.

  “It’s already in the process. I can’t change who my friends are, but I can change my ways. But I can’t make you believe me, you’ll just have to stick around to see for yourself. Will you?”

  Michelle leaned in closely and looked him in his eyes. “If you’re ever under investigation, I walk. If you’re ever arrested in connection with a crime, I walk. If I ever find out that you’ve lied to me about getting out of the life, I’m walking away…forever.”

  She was so close to Jay and had just lifted such a huge sort of stress from his shoulder, he was inspired to lean in and kiss her softly. She accepted his kiss.

  “I love you girl,” Jay said as he remembered he had a pending charge to deal with.

  “Apparently, I love you too.”

  As the food arrived, Michelle looked up and noticed Dawson strolling in with a Puerto Rican dime piece on his arm. She smiled at the mayor’s son and his eye candy.

  “Hey look, there’s Dawson,” Michelle said knowing him and Jay were friends.

  Dawson saw Michelle pointing his way and noticed her and Jay for the first time. He headed toward their table with his chest poked out proudly. Jay didn’t want to see Dawson anywhere, but he definitely didn’t want to see him here and now. Jay’s eyes danced around in his head as he got up to put on a show for Michelle.

  “What’s up, baby boy?” Dawson spoke and the two embraced in fake hug after a fake fist pound.

  “You got it, you dig. How you been?”

  “I been good, man. I been trying to catch up with you.” Dawson said, putting him on the spot.

  “I know, man. I never did return your call. I been a busy man these days though, blame on it my mind and not my heart.”

  “Oh yeah, you know I how it go.” Dawson turned to Michelle. “How you been, Michelle?”

  “I’ve been great, how about yourself?”

  Dawson pointed to his date, making her blush. “I’m doing okay. I got no complaints over here.”

  “I see,” Michelle giggled.

  Dawson complimented Michelle on everything from her dress to her smile, trying to ignore the bad vibes Jay was giving off. He introduced his date and Jay spoke flatly, but Michelle was more cordial. Once he saw Jay refused to warm up to them, Dawson cut the reunion short and said his goodbyes.

  “Hey, give me call, Jay, okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah I’ma call you in the morning,” Jay lied.

  He couldn’t care less if Dawson drove his car over a bridge after leaving Heaven on Earth. His mind was fixed on making good on all the promises he’d just made to Michelle. Now, more than ever, Jay was ready to retire from the game. He had to have a talk with the crew, and he had to find Bones and put him next to his brother, Dontae, in a cemetery.

  Jay and Michelle enjoyed their dinner without incident. When they left the restaurant, Jay’s security was close behind. Even though they looked completely natural and didn’t arouse any suspicions from Michelle, Jay knew he couldn’t continue to live that way.

 
Chapter 22

  One week later

  Bones was laying low at Oshiwa’s house getting some oral pleasure and waiting on a call when his cell phone rang.

  “Mmmm, watch out,” he told Oshiwa as she came up for air and he grabbed the phone to answer.

  “What’s up, you ready?” Dawson said.

  “Yeah, I been ready. Waiting on you.”

  “Okay, you can head my way. I’m at the spot.”

  “On my way.”

  Bones pulled up thirty minutes later on the same block he’d met Dawson on when he bought the Benz from him. He was excited about him and Skip finally finding another drug house they could sell rock from. That meant they could start back breaking kilos down and seeing a larger profit. But Skip was still furious about the attempt on his life only weeks ago, and Bones was growing impatient sniffing for Jay’s trail like a Bloodhound. They both knew they couldn’t really focus on the hustle full time until Jay was six feet deep in a casket somewhere.

  When Bones walked in the house, Dawson was on the phone with someone while he counted money and put it in little neat stacks. He bodyguard or whoever the hell he was supposed to be, stood close by watching his back. Bones dropped the gym bag on the floor and gave Dawson a ‘get the fuck off the phone’ look.

  “Let do this,” Bones said, interrupting his conversation.

  “Just call me when you close by, baby boy. Aiight, I’ll see you in a minute.”

  Dawson hung up the phone and turned to face Bones. He’d had a lot of time over the past week to think while he waited on Bones to re-up. He had concluded that he needed Bones alive and well since he was quickly becoming a top distributor on the westside, while Jay, on the other hand, was giving him the high-hat. He didn’t exactly have a horse in the race, it was all about whoever he was eating with. Since Jay no long provided meals, the choice was easy. Somebody was going to die in this war, and he preferred that the death didn’t set him back financially.

  “I got some good news for ya.” Dawson said.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “I ran into somebody you been looking for,” Dawson said with a grin on his face.

  “Who dat?” Bones said. He was intrigued, although he had a strong inkling of who Dawson was about to speak on.”

  “Old Mercedes boy,” Dawson said, waiting for Bones’ face to light up with interest.

  “When?” Bones asked in an urgent tone.

  “It was about a week ago, but it wasn’t something I could talk to a nigga on the phone about, so I just had to wait and see you, you know?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Where you see the nigga at?”

  “I saw him hanging out with his new li’l broad. And I know how you might be able to catch up with him too.”

  “Don’t talk me to death, spit it out.”

  “First, let me say this. You got twenty racks on this nigga head, right?” He said looking at Bones as he nodded. “Well, the info I’m giving you now is free. All I ask in return is a little brand loyalty from you and your peoples, you feel me?”

  “Shiiiid you had that coming anyway. Where that bitch ass nigga at?”

  __________

  Jay waited for the final re-up to have the conversation with the whole crew. He had done a lot of soul searching over the past week, and he was positive he was making the right decision. There was nothing left in the game for him but the same fate his father was dealt or worse. The last run he doubled up his package, knowing that the flip would turn him a profit that would officially make him a millionaire. His lawyer assured him that his Fleeing and Alluding police charge would be nothing more than a misdemeanor with a stiff fine. He had the girl of his dreams and a future as an entrepreneur. It was time to say goodbye to hustling. He decided the best place to make the announcement was at Niecey Girl’s house, knowing it would be like music to her ears. Everyone was there that mattered to Jay. Gunner, Bake, E, even Ray Ray.

  “So, I told y’all I had something I wanted to holler at y’all about, man, so I’m just gone get right into it, ya dig? This my last run, fellas. After this one, I’m done. We made a lot of money over the years, man, especially me and you, Gunner. We made a whole lot of muthafucking money, ya dig, and um, all good things must come to an end. We lost some good niggas to this shit, and I’m ready to cut my losses, ya dig. I know I can’t tell no grown ass men what to do with they life, but like I said, this my last run and I’m out. It’s time for me to give my cousin her crib back so she finally get her a man up in this muthafucka, have some kids or something, you know.”

  “Fuck you, nigga. I can get a man whenever I want,” Niecey Girl said with the biggest grin on her face. She was so proud of Jay at this moment for making the right decision.

  Gunner clapped his hands together as he was about to speak. “Muthafucka can’t even be mad at you for that, my nigga, shit you already won. I ain’t quite there yet, but I definitely feel where you coming from. I hope one day we can all walk away from this shit, you feel me?”

  Everyone in the room agreed with Gunner except Ray Ray.

  “Not me, nigga, I’m in this shit to the day I die. I’m just keeping it one hundred. What the fuck I’ma do besides what I do?”

  “Ray Ray, I love you boy, no matter what,” Jay said. “You been riding for the team since day one, and you ain’t even from Van Dyke, so you gone always be good as long as I’m alive. And soon as you bring me that nigga Bones’ head, you got fifty large coming, you dig? That’s on everything.”

  “Man, dogs bury bones, man. Trust me, I’ma catch up with his hoe ass if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Gunner, I’ma plug you with my man, Hector, and it’s on you from there,” Jay said. “E, Bake, I hope y’all niggas start working on that strip club y’all talked about, man. With the money we bringing in now, niggas can do whatever they wanna do.”

  “Yeah man, we trying to make it happen, but a nigga can’t do shit looking over his shoulders every day,” Bake said.

  “You right about that. End of the day though, this my beef and I’m in it until it’s over whether I’m hustling or not. I’ma finish that bitch.”

  __________

  Michelle pulled out of the parking lot of Channel Six studio feeling drained. Today, she had to go to a woman’s home and interview her about her six-year-old son who was struck in the face by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. Miraculously, the young boy survived, and after several surgeries, he was finally back home with his mom. Although the kid had survived, his face was disfigured, and after getting to know the family it really tugged at Michelle’s heartstring to know their lives had been completely altered forever in such a tragic way. She had a couple of errands to run, and the first was to try to make it to the dry cleaners before it closed.

  When she came off the cluttered freeway, she noticed an old school Caprice Classic continued to make the same turns as she. She hadn’t paid it much attention until the third or fourth turn, but after that, she began to grow a little suspicious. As a familiar face in the Detroit Metro area, it wasn’t unheard of for news reporters to have stalkers or people that became obsessed with them. The first year she was with Channel Six, a weather girl had quit her job and moved from the area because of an incident with a stalker.

  Five minutes later, the Caprice was still behind her. Just to satisfy her own curiosity, she pulled into a BP gas station to see what the car would do. She never came to a complete stop, just circled around the gas station. The Caprice slowed down and the occupants, two black males looked confused as to their next move. They kept straight ahead and Michelle’s heart began to race as she cleared the exit and made a left turn, darting into traffic in the opposite direction from which she came. Now she was almost positive she was being followed, and the thought sent chills through her body to know she could possibly be in danger. She quickly unplugged her cell phone from the car charger and called Jay.

  “Hey,” Jay answered.

  “Hey. I need you to stay on the phone with me
for a little while. I think I was just being followed.”

  Just the mention of possible danger sent a wave of fear through Jay, and he immediately reached for his pistol under the seat.

  “Where are you now?”

  “I’m on Plymouth headed north. I don’t see the car anymore, but it kept turning with me for the longest time, and when I pulled into the gas station, it slowed down, watching my next move.”

  “Did you get a look at who was driving at all?”

  “Not a good look. I saw two black males, that’s all I know for sure.”

  “I’m coming to meet up with you now.”

  “No, you don’t have to do that. I just wanted somebody on the phone with me just in case. I was really scared for a minute, but I think they’re gone now,” Michelle said, glancing in her rearview.

  Michelle stayed on the phone with Jay describing the car and giving him a detailed account of what happened. Jay had already decided he would no longer take Michelle out in public until the thing with Bones was taken care of. He couldn’t afford to put her in harm’s way, no matter how much he felt he could protect her. Instead, he planned a Bahamas trip since Michelle had vacation time coming up. She was pleased to know they would be spending it all on an island far away from everything.

  “There’s so many crazies in this world, you just never know,” Michelle continued.

  “You ever thought about getting you a gun permit?” Jay suggested.

  “Not really, but after today, I may seriously take it into consideration.”

  “I think you should.”

  “Maybe… I don’t know. I’ll call you back when I make it home.”

  Chapter 23

  Monday Morning

  Michelle and Jay enjoyed a quiet weekend at his home, which was just what they both needed. After the incident on Friday, Michelle didn’t feel safe even at her own home. She pushed it all out of her mind over the weekend, but she did decide that she wanted to get her gun license.