Blood Ties

by Shaun Sinclair

  “Use that money I gave you to get this lawyer,” Justus ordered Nikki through the telephone. “His name is Hamin Shabazz and he’s supposed to be the best lawyer in the south. Have you seen my dad? What did he say?”

  Nikki’s jovial mood suddenly turned sour. “Jus, I don’t know how to tell you this, but we haven’t heard from your father since the day this happened.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about my mom?”

  “She hasn’t heard from him either.”

  “Why she ain’t been up here?” Justus wondered. Nikki hesitated then answered.

  “She said she didn’t want to see you like this . . . or you see her like that.”

  “Like what?” Justus stood up.

  “Jus, her and your father have been having problems.”

  “And?”

  “And let’s just say I know where you get your woman beating tendencies from.” Nikki chuckled. Justus did not. “Anyway, he hasn’t been home since their incident.”

  Justus took the news in. What was going on? he thought. Surely, Leader knew about his situation. Did Leader think he was going to turn foul? Justus had to see what was up.

  “A’ight, check this” Justus began. “Write this number down: 1-888-486-2200. That’s Pop’s emergency cell. Tell him what happened. Tell him I need him to get me out A.S.A.P., alright?’

  “What about the lawyer?”

  “Just holla at Pop. He’ll take care of all that. Kiss the boys and tell my mom not to worry. I’ll be home soon.”

  Nikki stood to leave.

  “Nikki,” Jus called through the receiver. “I love you. Stop looking like that. Everything will be okay. Promise . . . Now let me see that smile.” Nikki flashed the pearly whites. “That’s my girl.” They ended the visit touching palms through the glass.

  Later that night, as Justus received his dinner tray, one of the trustees who brought the food kept eyeballing him. Justus recalled that since he had been there, the same guy kept eyeballing him each time he brought the trays. Justus decided to find out who the guy was. He sought out Rico’s table then sat down to eat.

  Rico was a guy who had been in the county for two years, awaiting trial on two bodies. Rico knew everything about the place, so if anyone knew the trustee it was him.

  “Sup Killa,” Rico greeted Justus as Justus sat to join Rico for supper.

  “Chillin.” They both ate in silence for a while until Justus broke the ice. “Want this apple, yo?”

  Rico looked up from his food, momentarily eyeing Justus suspiciously. When Justus passed his test, Rico took the apple.

  From there a rapport was established. For the next few days, Justus did the same routine, always giving Rico some food from his tray. The food was shit, but Rico seemed to love it. Finally, on the fourth day, Justus gently slid the question to Rico.

  “Who is old-school that be bringing the trays, dawg?”

  “Which one?” Rico asked, licking his fingers clean of the pork chop Justus had given him.

  “The smooth old-head with the wavy grey.”

  “Oh, you mean Top!”

  “I guess,” Justus shrugged.

  “Yeah, that’s Top. He been bidding a minute, dawg.” Rico confirmed, letting his eyes drift off into space.

  “What’s up wit’ him?” Justus quire.

  “Old-school been here ’bout three, four years. He came back to be a trustee from state. Nigga done did like eighteen years.”

  “Word?”

  “Word.”

  Justus took a moment to let the thought of doing eighteen years sink in. Damn, nigga been bidding since he was two! Justus pictured what he was facing and shuddered.

  “Why?” Rico was asking.

  “Nah, dude just be eyeballing me, that’s all.”

  “Oh, you straight,” Rico stated dismissively. “If dude had beef witchu, you’d know. He don’t fuck wit’ nobody now, but word is he got a string of bodies.”

  Justus listened intently and thought about what Leader had told him: “Keep secrets in the breast because those who gossip to you about others will gossip to others about you.”

  In the span of a week, Rico had told Justus enough to do Top harm. Damn, Leader was a genius.

  The following day, while out for recreation, Justus finally got a chance to holla at old-school, Top. Justus was standing on the fence when, surprisingly, Top approached him. Top didn’t say anything at first. He just stood beside Justus, observing him. Out of his peripheral, Justus was doing the same.

  “Where you from, Youngblood?” Top asked, soothing the tense air. Justus looked at Top head-up, sizing him up, and responded, “Grove View.”

  Top nodded, then after a brief pause asked. “Who your peoples?” Top spoke real polished, but to Justus it seemed there was a high amount of rage just beneath the surface.

  “The Daniels,” Justus answered. Top nodded like he already knew the answer to his question. When Justus was about to ask Top some questions, he abruptly walked away.

  Later that night, when supper came, Justus opened his tray and realized he had extra food. Justus knew exactly where the extra food came from. Rico spoke up, confirming Justus’s guess when he said,

  “Old-head been asking ’bout chu.” Justus just listened. “He said he know your peoples.”

  This got Justus’s attention. “Word? Who?”

  “Say he know your old man.” The mere mention of Leader caused Justus’s blood to boil. Thus far, Leader still had not gotten back in touch with Nikki.

  Justus didn’t respond to Rico, allowing the subject to change for the remainder of the meal. The following day on the rec yard Justus approached Top as he sat watching a basketball game from behind his dark shades.

  “Sup’ Top.”

  “Alright Youngblood. What’s happening?’

  “Nothing much,” Justus lied. A ton of shit was on his mind. “You never told me where you was from,” Justus said, trying to float in the question he really wanted to ask.

  “Little bit of everywhere,” Top offered vaguely. “You wanna know how I know your old man, huh,” he said suddenly.

  Justus was surprised, but Top had pulled his card, so he came straight with the old-timer.

  “Yeah. Actually, I do.”

  Top chuckled, “It’s alright. I’ll tell you. But first, how is your mother doing? Glenda, right?” Justus nodded. Top zoned out for a second remembering old times. “Yeah, your mother was a looker back in the day. Bet she still fine.”

  Justus blanched.

  “I remember when you was this big—”

  Top measured a foot with his hands. “Then I saw you on the T.V, I didn’t recognize you, but I remembered the name. When I saw you come in, I automatically looked at you. You look just like your daddy looked when he was your age. I knew it was you. If only Ralo could see you now . . .” Top’s voice trailed off as he reminisced yet again.

  Who is Ralo, thought Justus.

  “Me and your daddy was inseparable. Top and Ralo. Ralo and Top. Fucked me up when he got killed.”

  “Killed? What the fuck?”

  “That dude ain’t have to do him like that. I wish I could catch him now. After all this time, the damn police still say they don’t know who did it, but I do.”

  Top was talking irrational, or so Justus thought, so he finally said, “Man, I don’t mean no disrespect, but I believe you got the wrong dude, cause my daddy ain’t dead.”

  “What you mean, Youngblood. I was on the streets then. Matter fact, that was right before I came to the joint,” Top corrected.

  “You probably was too young to remember, but I remember like it was yesterday. Ralo was my ace.”

  Justus didn’t like how he was coming so he stood to his full six-plus feet, looked at Top and said, “I don’t know no fuckin’ Ralo. My daddy named Leader.”

  “Leader?” Top hissed, then repeated the name like a bad omen. “You say Leader your daddy?”

  “Yeah. You
say you knew my mom, I’m surprised you didn’t know that. They been together for the last twenty years.”

  “Your mom married Leader?” Top grabbed his head like he was getting lightheaded. Justus took a step back. He didn’t like the way this was going down.

  Top continued, “I can’t believe this. She married that nigga?!”

  “Come on, Old-school. Don’t say too much about my dad,” Sure, Leader was shitting on him, but Justus wasn’t about to let anyone else talk reckless about him.

  “Youngblood, that ain’t your daddy. Your daddy was named Ralo,” Top’s voice dropped an octave. “Your step daddy killed Ralo over your mother, when you was a baby . . .”

  “Man, I’m gone.” Justus attempted to walk off, but Top cuffed his arm, preventing him from leaving. Justus shot him a warning with his eyes. Top returned it. Justus relented.

  “Listen Young blood, I don’t play no games and I usually don’t meddle in people’s business, but I got to pull your coat on this. Leader killed Ralo over your mother. Don’t believe me? Ask any old-head from around your way. The streets know. Nobody don’t wanna say anything because of who Leader is. They scared, but I ain’t. Fuck Leader.”

  Justus observed Top closely. His eyes burned with passion when he took his shades off. His breathing was rapidly increasing. Justus didn’t want to believe him; Top’s story was more than a little far-fetched. Yet it was too farfetched to be made up.

  “I don’t understand why you telling me this. I mean, you say you know who my father is, but you telling me something that could be detrimental to your health,” Justus reasoned.

  “Like I said, fuck Leader. I’m telling you because you deserve to know who your real daddy was. Ralo was my best friend. Quiet as I kept, I took this life sentence for Ralo. So, that’s what he meant to me.” With that said, Top walked off, leaving Justus lost in his cacophony of thoughts.

  * * *

  Leader slowly crept through the spacious loft located on Chicago’s affluent West Side. A couple weeks’ worth of tracking and investigating finally came to fruition. He had finally found where Carmen rested her head when she was not out terrorizing the world.

  Leader had left Fayetteville the hour he and Glenda had their spat and subsequent fight. He left on a mission to find Carmen to get into her life as she had done his. It was senseless to argue with Glenda until he had proof that what he and Carmen had briefly shared was over. Then he and Glenda could start over. Then he and Glenda could start their reconciliation phase. Drastic measures came from drastic situations, which was why he intended to take Carmen’s head, absent her body, back to Glenda to show that she was no longer a problem. That in itself would make a huge statement. Glenda already knew what he did for a living now, so much so because of Carmen. So, since Carmen was the cause of Glenda’s epiphany, her life would serve as the sacrifice.

  It took Leader almost two weeks to locate Carmen’s home, but after much back tracking and work he had found her lair.

  Leader slowly tripped up the carpeted stairs with his silenced revolver drawn at the ready. The television was on upstairs, and Leader could see movement through the shadows created by the T.V.’s light. As Leader reached the top of the stairs, he made out Carmen’s silhouette sitting up in the bed. Wasting no time, Leader crouched, aimed the red beam at her head, and pulled the trigger.

  “Pop!” An explosion greeted Leader’s gunshot, and the lights sprang on revealing the source of the explosion.

  A dummy with a balloon head sat in the bed, taunting Leader. The wig from the balloon now sat on its lap, a string with one end running from the light-switch, another attached to a lock of hair. Leader wasn’t convinced Carmen wasn’t there, so he assumed combat mode, searching the room carefully. When he was done, he brought his attention to the dummy. Attached to its chest was a note that read:

  “You can come into my house uninvited, I can come inside yours. See you in N.C.,” Damn! Leader thought as he rushed out the door.

  * * *

  Justus strolled to his post in the visitation room and greeted his wifey and Aunt Glo. Sitting on the stool, he lifted the receiver to speak. Nikki was up first.

  “Hey Love, how you holding up?” Nikki touched her thumb to the glass.

  Justus blushed. “It’ll be over soon. Did you talk to that lawyer yet?”

  “Yeah, but Mr. Shabazz said he can’t touch your case for less than thirty grand. Fifteen up front.”

  “No problem. What’s up with the bond?” Nikki sighed deeply. “He said you may have to sit for a couple more weeks to get a bond reduction, but for the fifteen, he’ll make it happen.” Justus didn’t want to sit in jail, but he understood the way the system worked. “A’ight. You heard from my dad?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “How’s my mom? Why she didn’t come?”

  “Her and Keisha been spending a lot of time together. She said she’ll be over in the morning. Keisha spending time with her friend Alayna tonight, so first thing in the morning she’ll be here.”

  “Hey baby. How’s everything?” Gloria said in her drawl.

  He looked at his aunt for a long time before asking, “Do you know a dude named Top?” Gloria’s face underwent a mélange of emotions until recognition appeared on her face.

  “I knew a guy years ago named Top. Why?”

  Justus could tell she was hiding something so he prodded on. “About my height, light skin, curly hair?”

  “Oh, honey, I wouldn’t know. That was years ago.” Gloria’s light skin betrayed her as it flushed lightly around the cheeks. Justus saw the guile, and kept digging.

  “Well he says he know you,” he bluffed. “And Mom . . . and Dad. But the dad he knows is named Ralo.” Gloria’s jaw dropped, letting Justus know he had dropped a bomb. Justus relayed Top’s story to Gloria. As he told the story, veil after veil fell from his eyes. As each syllable released itself from his mouth, Justus’s existence became more and more frail.

  “It’s true isn’t it?” Justus asked when he was done recounting the story.

  “Jus, baby. Why are you digging up the past? Leader raised you, he’s your father. All—”

  “It’s TRUE isn’t it!!”

  The C.O.’s glanced in Justus’s direction, so he lowered his voice, then repeated the question.

  It was apparent that this was a long-lost family secret. Gloria’s face was in pain as she nodded her head. She hated for Justus to find out this way. She had told her sister years ago to tell Justus when he was old enough to understand. Gloria knew the old adage was true: What happens in the dark comes to light. Always.

  “Ralo was your father,” Gloria finally admitted. “But I don’t know if Leader killed him or not. That’s a street rumor. Truth is, your father was a powerful man. He had a lot of enemies. No one knows for sure if Leader killed him.”

  Inside, Justus was a bundle of emotions, outwardly his face was poker. Just as he was about to pose a barrage of questions his visit was terminated.

  Later that day on the rec field, Justus humbled himself to Top, and Top proceeded to tell Justus all about his father. According to Top, Ralo was a “street general.” Standing about six-foot-two, weighing about two-hundred and forty pounds, Ralo was like a bear; if you didn’t kill him, he would kill you. It was safe to say no one wanted to cross him. He and Glenda were lovers from an early age. Ralo saw Glenda and knew he had to have her. Ralo used to talk Top’s ears off, espousing the joys of Glenda. When she grew pregnant with Justus, Ralo was ecstatic, and chose Top to be the unborn child’s godfather. Unfortunately, Top never got a chance to be a godfather to the child, as he went to prison soon after he was born. Justus demanded to know what happened between Leader and Ralo. Top was reluctant to tell him, but being that he was never able to pass on anything else to his godson, he figured he could pass on the legacy of what really happened to his father. So, Top and Justus sat down on the basketball court while Top spilled his secrets:

  “I don’t know when Leader and Ralo f
irst really had beef, but all I know is one night we were out and someone—I forget who it was—told Ralo some brash New York cat was pursuing his old lady. Me and Leader didn’t know each other, but apparently, him and Ralo already had words before. Anyway, we go to ths li’l juke joint and see the nigga pawing on your ma. Leader got heated, went over to Glenda and tried to kiss her or something. Meanwhile Ralo sees all this from the sideline. When he’s had enough, he goes over, pulls Leader off of Glenda—SMACK! SMACK! Hit ’em a few times. Leader tries to fight back, but Ralo pulls his piece. Puts it right in Leader’s face. Everybody in the spot goes quiet, and I realize where we at, so I pull Ralo back. We leave the joint in my Hog.

  “Couple weeks later, I got locked up for this square me and Ralo had to put down. They wanted me to snitch on Ralo, but I ain’t a rat, ya dig?”

  Justus nodded, continuing to meet Top’s dead-gaze head-on.

  “Anyway, I wear the hit for the body, Ralo goes free while I get life. Before I even left the R&E center in Central Raleigh, I get the news Ralo was killed. Someone had broken into his home, stabbed him in the neck from behind, then blew his brains out. Shot him three times in the head.”

  Top shook his head and shuddered at the thought.

  “I found out later by some jitterbug that came down in the system that the dude who did it worked for Sherlock.”

  “Sherlock?”

  “Yeah. Ya heard of him?”

  “Little bit. Say he’s legend,” Justus said.

  “Yeah. That’s why Leader never got charged. Sherlock had police on his payroll and Leader was Sherlock’s #1 enforcer. Plus, everyone was scared. Shit, Ralo was thorough, so naturally the person who took him out would rise in stature. Nobody never came forward, and Leader got away.”

  Top raised his hands signifying the end of his story.

  Justus was blown away by what he’d just heard. Now that his Aunt Glo had confirmed what Top told him about Leader being his stepfather, he had no choice but to believe Top about this also.