by Roy Glenn
“Thank you, Cassandra. I’ve enjoyed talking to you.”
“It’s me who should be thanking you. For allowing me in your home, for taking care of me and honestly I’ve enjoyed talking to you too.”
“Michael was right. You’re not the average drug dealer.”
“Excuse me, X-drug dealer. I just don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, but I know it won’t have anything to do with drugs.”
“That’s good. I’m glad to hear you say that,” Emily said, knowing what Mike was thinking. Her willingness to quit distributing cocaine would make it easier. “You get some rest now. Are you hungry?”
“Always.”
“Good. I’ll wake you when lunch is ready,” Emily said as she left the room.
Emily returned to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Cooking was her passion; therefore, she was excited about having someone to cook for. Emily had enjoyed talking with Shy; she was everything that Mike said she would be. Emily had hoped that someday he would become serious about another woman, but she had always assumed that it would be Wanda.
During the years that she and Mike didn’t speak, a day wouldn’t go by without hearing from Wanda. Emily and Wanda shared a mother-daughter relationship. In spite of that, she was just happy for him, happy that he was in love with someone nice. Happy that he was finally ready to put the gangster life behind him. Happy for herself, because he wanted her to be a part of his future. Now Emily had visions of grandchildren running in the island sand. She knew it was a little premature, but it felt marvelous.
While Emily cooked lunch for Shy, Mike returned from Angelo’s. He came in quietly, so he wouldn’t disturb Shy. He came into the kitchen and spoke to Emily. She told him that Shy had awakened, but she was resting. Mike excused himself and went to see Shy. As he opened the door, Shy opened her eyes.
“Hello beautiful,” Mike said leaning down to kiss her gently.
“Hi baby,” Shy replied, accepting his kiss with a smile.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been shot.”
Mike laughed a little. “Hmm, I wonder why that is.” As he knelt down next to the bed.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything about your mother?”
“I don’t know. Just never came up.”
“She’s wonderful. She’s very serious and at the same time she’s very warm and friendly and so easy to talk to. A lot like you,” she said leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. “Baby, I’m sorry for being so much trouble to you.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re gonna be all right,” Mike said smiling at her. “Cassandra, I got something I wanna talk to you about.”
“I got something I wanna talk to you about too, Michael.”
“Michael? You have been talking to my mother; she’s the only one that ever calls me Michael. What do you want to tell me?” Mike asked.
“No, you go first.”
“No, you go first,” he insisted.
“Okay, okay, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me. You saved my life again.”
“Actually, Bobby saved your life.”
“Which reminds me; didn’t you promise not to have anybody following me?”
“No, I promised not to have Freeze or Jap follow you.”
“Hmm. Anyway, I’m glad you did,” Shy said, taking his hand.
“So am I.”
“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Mike said, horrified at what she would say.
“Stop looking like that. All I wanna say is that I don’t wanna do that anymore. Sitting in the back seat of Bobby’s car, I thought I was going to die. It’s just not worth the risk. My life is more important than business. For a while, that’s all there was. But I have you in my life, and now everything is different. I don’t wanna lose you. I wanna be with you always. I love you so much. I never want to do anything that puts that in jeopardy.”
“You just made me the happiest man alive. I love you too, Cassandra. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. And I promise never to put that in jeopardy either.”
“Do you mean it? Do you really want to spend your life with me?”
“Yes, and I want us to leave here. Start a new life together. Will you come with me?”
“That sounds good to me. Where will we go? No, let me guess … THE BAHAMAS!” she shouted.
“You think you’re smart, don’t you, college girl?”
“No, I just know my baby. And we can buy that adorable little house by the beach. Oh, Michael yes, yes of course I’ll go with you,” leaning forward quickly and hugging him, without thinking about her wound. “I forgot about that,” she said laughing on the verge of tears.
Emily came in carrying a tray with lunch for Shy. Seeing Mike on his knees like that, she thought he was proposing to Shy. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?” She asked.
“As a matter of fact, you are. You’re interrupting the two happiest people in the world,” Mike said, getting up to take the tray from her. “But we have plenty of happiness to share with you.”
“My goodness, Michael. I’ve never seen you smile like that.” Emily said.
“Ain’t he cute when he smiles?”
“What did you do to my son, Cassandra?”
“Just loving him, that’s all.”
“That’s so nice. You both look so happy,” Emily said leaving the room. “Do you want me to bring you something to eat, Michael?”
“I’ll be out soon. There are still some things that I need to talk to Cassandra about,” Mike answered.
“Yeah, there are still some loose ends to tie up,” Shy said, as Mike closed the door behind Emily.
“What happened? Tell me every detail, don’t leave anything out.”
“It was a done deal. E had just gone to get the car. I was talking to Orlando and then there were cops everywhere.” Shy recounted in detail the events of the previous evening while she ate. “This is so good. I see where you got your cooking skills from. Anyway, after that is when Bobby came out of nowhere and picked me up.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all of it. It was a setup, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, cops were tipped. Any idea who?”
“No. But that’s nothing new. I’ve been wondering through this with my glasses blurred from the start,” Shy said. Mike got up and walked to the window. “Tony’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. It was so fucked up watching him die. What about Jack and E, are they dead too?”
“No, Jack is in jail. E got away,” Mike answered still looking out the window.
“I gotta get Jack out of jail. I’m glad E got away though.”
Mike turned and walked toward her. “Yeah, Bobby said that E came out, lit up a cigarette and walked right by the cops when they went in.”
“What did you say?”
“He walked right by the cops when they went in,” repeated Mike.
“No; he lit a cigarette? E don’t smoke. He set me up!” Shy said angrily. “It’s been him all along. And I trusted him. Where is he?” Shy started to get out of bed, but Mike laid her down gently.
“Calm down, Vicious Shy. Freeze is looking for him as we speak.”
“You knew it all along. Didn’t you?”
“Not all along. We figured it out last night, even without the cigarette.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why all the drama?”
“I thought it was important for you to see it for yourself.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have believed it if you had told me.”
There was a knock at the door while Mike and Shy continued talking. Emily opened the door; Wanda had come to talk to Mike about the situation. She sat on the couch a while talking with Emily.
“But enough of that, I can tell by that look that you came to see Michael. I’ll get him for you,” Emily said, getting
up and heading toward the room. She knocked on the door and stuck her head in. “Michael, Wanda is here to see you.”
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” Mike said, kissing Shy.
“Yeah, right, where am I going,” she replied, as Mike closed the door behind him.
At first, she was a little annoyed that she was not a part of the discussion about her situation. But at the same time, she was relieved that, for her, it was over.
“How you doing, Wanda? “
“Hello, Mike. How is she?”
“She’s fine,” Mike said, sitting down next to Wanda.
“Can she be moved?”
“Moved her here. I don’t see why not. Give me the bad news.”
“You know she killed one cop and wounded another?”
“Yeah, she was just telling me.”
“Cops are all over this. They have her name and a good description of her. It won’t be long before they link her to you. It’s not safe for her to be here.”
“Legally?”
“Right now, it’s just harboring a fugitive, but with all the talk about your involvement it could easily turn into accessory to murder,” Wanda said.
“Okay, as soon as it’s dark we’ll move her. What else?” Mike asked getting up from the couch.
“One of her people is in jail. He was arraigned this morning for murder, conspiracy to distribute, attempted murder and accessory to murder. For the time being, he’s not talking, not even to his court appointed lawyer. But that may change if they don’t get her. Somebody’s gotta fry. Other than the one Wonder Woman capped, four more cops were killed in the shootout,” Wanda explained.
“Get him out of there.”
“No Mike, if we do that it will point right to us,” Wanda said.
“Don’t argue with me, Wanda. Just get him out of there. Get some Jew lawyer in Brooklyn to get him out.”
“Mike, listen to me, he’s charged with murdering New York City police officers. No judge is going to release him on bail.”
“I guess you’re right. Do what you can for him. What about her boy, what kind of deal did he make with the cops?” Mike asked.
“They thought they’d catch her in the act, no need for him to testify. So basically, he just pointed the finger, but killing cops will change that quick. They’re probably looking for him to lead them to her. Bobby said he told Shy it was you behind it, so you can just imagine what he’ll tell the police.”
“Shit.”
“I knew this would happen,” Wanda said.
“Go ahead and say it, I told you so.”
“Well I did, but do you listen? No.”
“Okay, Wanda. What about the two cops Bobby dropped?”
“Nobody knows anything about Bobby even being in the area, much less killing two cops. I don’t know how he does it.”
“Okay, best case.”
“If, what’s his name … Jack doesn’t give you up just to make a deal. Without her and the snitch, there’s nothing to link any of this to us,” Wanda said.
“Okay,” Mike said before returning to his room to be with Shy.
“What do you want me to do, Mike?”
“Nothing. Do what you can for Jack; make sure he knows that it was E who set them up. At this point, the less we’re involved the better.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
After the sun went down, Mike prepared to move Shy to a safer location. Freeze, along with Jap and Kenny arrived to provide extra security. Emily wrapped Shy in a blanket and said her good-byes.
“Take good care of yourself, and I’ll see you soon,” Emily said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Forming a circle around Shy, led by Mike, flanked on each side by Jap and Kenny and Freeze brought up the rear. As they were about to put Shy in the car Larry came running up.
“Yo, Black, yo, Black, wait up man, wait up!” he yelled as he ran up.
Mike kissed Shy on the cheek and put her in the car. “Wait here,” he said to her, turning and motioning for Freeze to follow him.
“What’s up, Larry?”
“I got some information for you. You know that guy you’re looking for?” Larry began whispering in Mike’s ear.
“No shit.” Mike smiled, and then walked back toward the car. “You go ahead. I have something to check out,” he said to Shy.
“What is it? I’m going with you,” Shy said quietly and started getting out of the car.
“Excuse me. But aren’t you retired?” Mike asked.
“Okay, okay.”
“Look, it’s probably nothing, but it’s worth checking out.”
“Liar. If you thought it was nothing, you wouldn’t be going. You’d send somebody to check it out and report. But it’s cool. I’ll be a good girl and sit this one out.”
“You know me a little too well, beautiful. I’ll see you soon.”
“Be careful, baby. There’s no point in both of us getting shot over this,” she said kissing Mike gently. Mike closed the car door, and Jap drove off.
Mike watched them drive away before joining Freeze and Larry in the Rodeo. Now Larry provided the best lead to E. Mike asked Larry to elaborate in his story. “So, where did you get the info?”
“After Freeze told me that he was looking for him, I remembered somebody saying that he was fuckin’ Tony’s girl Rita. So, I rolled by her crib and chilled for a while. A couple of hours ago she went out. She came back about an hour later with a suitcase. It was full because she had to drag it in.”
“Could be, Black,” Freeze said.
“May be something, may be nothing. None of y’all checked her out?”
“No, I was gonna roll by there tomorrow, see if she needed anything,” Freeze replied.
“It’s still the best lead we got,” Mike said.
“So, what you wanna do? Go in there and blast that ass,” Freeze asked.
“No, we don’t know if he’s in there and if he’s not we’ll just be tipping our hand. For all we know the cops could be all over the place waiting for Shy to show up.”
“So, what you wanna do?”
“You were going to stop by to offer your help, right? Let’s do it now. I have a plan.”
Meanwhile, Jap continued to drive Shy to a more secure location. Shy asked Jap to pull over so she could use the pay phone.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Shy,” Jap replied.
“Is anybody following us?” Shy asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Well ride around the block a few times and then stop at that pay phone, please.”
Jap did as Shy asked, returning to the pay phone. Kenny got out and looked around. There was no one in sight. Shy and Jap got out and they walked toward the phone.
“You got any spare change?” She dialed the phone. She wanted to call Rita and tell her how sorry she was about Tony.
“Hello,” Rita answered.
“Hello, Rita. This is Shy.”
“Shy,” Rita said loudly. E was lying next to her in bed.
“I can’t stay on long, but I wanted to say that I’m sorry about what happened to Tony. He was a good man,” Shy said.
“Thank you, Shy, I know it wasn’t your fault. Cops been here looking for you. They said Tony shot at them first,” Rita replied.
“I tried to stop him. But it was too late,” Shy said.
“I know you did what you could, but don’t worry about me, I’ll be all right. You just take care of yourself.”
“When is the funeral?” Shy asked.
“The day after tomorrow,” Rita replied.
“You know I won’t be there. By the way have you seen E?”
“E,” she said loudly. E motioned for the phone. “He’s right here.” E took the phone from Rita.
Hearing that E was there with Rita, Shy became excited and angry all at once.
“Shy, you all right?”
“Yeah, E, I’m fine. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m all right. Whe
re are you?” E asked.
“I’m with my people in Baltimore. It’s better if you don’t know where.”
“I understand. I’m gonna lay low here until things quiet down then I’m gonna try to get down there to you. We can start over,” E said.
“I gotta go, but I’ll see you soon.” Shy angrily slammed down the phone. “That mutha fucka. I’ll kill him,” she said dialing the phone to warn her mother. “Collect from Cassandra.”
“Hi baby, how are you?”
“I’m okay, Mommy, but listen, the police will be coming. You haven’t seen or heard from me in months. I’ll explain later. I love you.” Hanging up the phone quickly. Shy started for the car saying, “Let’s go Jap. I know where E is.” Kenny looked at Jap and walked away laughing.
“Shy please. Do you want Black to kill me? Look, he’s with Freeze. We can call and let them know where he is. But I gotta get you off the streets now. So please get in the car and let’s go.”
“Okay, let’s go,” she said grudgingly. “I don’t know if I’m ready to retire yet.”
E hung up the phone with Shy and began to dial the phone. Rita asked him, “Who are you calling?”
“Forty-seventh precinct.”
“Detective Kirkland please,” E said.
After a short wait, Detective Kirkland came to the phone. “Kirk.”
“Yeah, Kirk, you can find our friend in Baltimore with her family.”
“You got an address?” Kirk said.
“No, but you’re a detective; you’ll find her.” E replied. He hung up the phone smiling. “This is working out better than I planned it.”
E had been in love with Shy for years, but she never saw anything in him other than dollar signs. He made money for Shy. Money, he thought, that’s all she ever cared about. It was torture to see Shy with that punk bitch, Ricardo all those years. After Ricardo broke her heart Shy turned to him and for a while, he had hope.
But she used me. Sucked all the life out of me. And when she had taken all I had, she put me back on the shelf.
He looked at Rita, for maybe the first time. At that moment it became apparent to him that his interest in Rita was driven solely by his hatred for Tony.
“Your boy is dead, Jack’s in jail, Shy’s on the run and that leaves Black to take the weight.”
