“He’s in the living room,” Miss Betty said.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Michelle took in the scene as it must look to Baby-Sister. G-Baby lay sideways on the couch, watching a game on TV. A pretty blond woman sat in a chair, also watching the game. The woman was dressed in shorts and T-shirt. It wasn’t hooker gear. It wasn’t church wear either.
“Hey, Baby!” G-Baby jumped up, limp-hopped over, and gave her a huge hug.
Michelle came down the stairs and gave Baby-Sister a hug. “Glad you came. Nikky is upstairs sleeping. Let me introduce you to Alana. Her sister is asleep in the other bedroom. Seems we are a bit of a hospital around here.”
After introductions were made, Baby-Sister motioned for G-Baby to follow her into the kitchen. It was clear Baby-Sister wanted to talk to G-Baby away from strangers’ ears.
“I’m going to go back upstairs and let you two have a moment,” Michelle said. On the way she overheard Baby-Sister tell G-Baby. “We’re moving.”
“What do you mean, we’re moving?” He asked.
“Her, that woman in there. That’s what I mean. We’re moving.”
“Ain’t nothing going on. Honest. She’s here with her sister,” he said.
“I believe you. Nothing has happened. Not yet. And I’m making sure it stays that way. We’re moving.”
“Course we’re moving. How can I have some of that sweet hoochie you flew all the way out here to bring me while we’re sleeping in the living room?” he teased.
“I’m going upstairs and see Nikky and Michelle, why don’t you pack your bag?”
Michelle stood in the door with a grin on her face. “Moving, huh?”
Baby-Sister cocked an eyebrow, then looked at Nikky. “How is she?” She quietly stepped into the room.
“Other than what you see, which is way too much, she’s alright. The doc checked her over pretty good. He brought a portable ultra-sound machine. He said there was nothing major damaged. She’ll need some plastic surgery on her face. We’ll do that here in Texas when she’s up to it. But all that’s details. Right now I’m so damned grateful she’s here with me.” Michelle held back her tears; her breaking voice betrayed her bravado.
“Do you need to go back home anytime soon? I can stay here with Nikky if you do,” Baby-Sister said.
“No. Deja’s got a handle on things,” Michelle responded.
“How’s Deja?”
“She was a total basket-case, as in ape-shit crazy. You know how she is, all emotional and passionate. She couldn’t hold it together seeing Nikky like this. Her big heart would break every time Nikky made the slightest noise. She couldn’t sit in this room for more than five minutes without wanting to go kill Ascia all over again. She’s better at home where she has to pay attention to taking care of all of those women and a gazillion daily details.”
“I’m taking G-Baby out of here. It’ll give you some extra room. Also, I need to take him away from temptation,” Baby-Sister said.
Michelle motioned for them to leave the room. They stood in the upstairs hall. “I heard y’all talking. He’s been real good all the way through. No messing around, nothing. And he had the chance a couple times. But, yeah, you’re right. She’s pretty, and we are kind of tight here. Betty rented this place to take care of one person, not three.”
“We’ll find something close by. I’ll set up a schedule with Miss Betty to come spell you with taking care of Nikky over the next couple of weeks.”
—
An hour after the taxi dropped Baby-Sister off, a new taxi waited to take her away. This time G-Baby would share the ride.
Michelle, Miss Betty, and Alana came outside to see them off.
Baby-Sister shook Alana’s hand. “I hope your sister feels better soon.”
“Thank you. She is better already. We are lucky Michelle and your husband, Mr. Gabriel, helped us get away from bad mans,” Alana said. She turned to G-Baby and held out her hand. “Thank you for your help. We now have hope for better life in United States.”
G-Baby shook her offered hand.
Baby-Sister didn’t correct Alana about the husband part.
Baby-Sister hugged Miss Betty and Michelle. “We’ll be at the short term Executive Apartments. Call if I can help in any way.” She hovered over G-Baby as he limped to the waiting taxi.
Thirty-Seven: Going To Mayberry
FIVE WOMEN CROWDED into the small kitchen. Fresh coffee, medical supplies and the underlying smells of a few years of lotions, perfumes and baby powder battled for dominance in the small one-bedroom apartment.
They sat in Nikky’s dining area. It wasn’t the best place for a meeting, but it was the easiest on Nikky. She had only been home from Texas for a week. The bruises on her face, neck, shoulders and arms stood out in hideous purple, black, and dark red. She had several bandages on her face from the most recent plastic surgery.
Michelle and Deja argued for her to wait, take more time to heal. Nikky demanded they meet. Meeting in her apartment was a compromise. Michelle, Deja, PJ and Jelena were determined to keep it as short as possible.
“Alright ladies, let’s do this thing. Nikky asked for this meeting.” Michelle turned to Nikky. “Show us what you got.”
“Only in the last few days have I finally felt up to hours of digging into the computers and hard drives we took from Fast Eddie’s. When you see what those assholes were up to, you’ll be pissed all over again. That’s why I didn’t want to wait. To start, it seems Ascia and Fast Eddie have been doing this shit for a while,” Nikky said.
“How long?” Michelle asked.
“At first they would bring in a load of women once a year. After the third year they jumped up to two shipments a year. All told, they’ve bought women from the Russian mafia for at least five years.”
“Those women in Houston, Alana and the others, have been in this misery for five goddammed wretched years?” Michelle asked.
“No. Not Alana. She and her sister showed up almost two years ago,” Nikky replied.
“I thought most of the women in Houston been together from the start,” Deja said.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But no. And from what I can see, they were due to be moved again.” Nikky said.
“What do you mean, again? I thought Houston was Ascia’s home base,” Michelle said.
“It was. But, they moved the women around from city to city. The women in Houston had been there less than half a year,” Nikky said. “Jelena, from what I can see, you were in Houston for only a few months before Jack-Move brought you to LA. Is that right?”
“Da, I mean yes,” Jelena said. “About three months.”
“Do you know why they moved everyone so often?” Michelle asked.
“The other women, the ones already been in America a long time, said they never stay long enough to really settle in. They don’t know why. About the time when they’d establish a few regulars and life for them started to be a little easier, they’d be moved to a new city and back on the streets,” Jelena said.
“Nikky, is that the pattern for all of the women? Did they move everyone, or only some of them?” Michelle asked.
“With very few exceptions, all of them.”
“What about the pimps? Did they stay with the women, or stay with the city?” Michelle asked.
“The pimps stayed in one place. Only the women rotated under them. The only exceptions were sometimes a single woman would stay with a pimp while the groups were rotated.”
“Jelena, who stayed?” Michelle asked.
“If you were China Doll, you stayed with your pimp,” Jelena said. “Life is always better for China Doll. But most women hate the pimps, so never want to be China Doll.”
“Did they try to hook the women on drugs?” Michelle asked.
“No,” Jelena replied. “Drugs were not allowed in the apartments. I hear stories of women get discipline for using drugs.”
“Good, no drugs, which is what most pimps use to keep their women in l
ine. Frequent rotation to a new city. It was how they kept them from getting away. Make it impossible for them to know their way around, and kept them dependent on their pimps.” Michelle looked at Jelena, “Did they want the girls to learn English?”
“No. They make me teach them sex talk, but nothing else. Jack-Move would slap me hard many times if I teach the other womans regular English. I learn real fast not to teach English. Even when someone ask me, I won’t do it,” Jelena replied.
“Fucking assholes,” PJ said. It was the first thing she said since she sat down at the table.
“You got that right,” Michelle said.
“No, I mean it. I’m the only one at the table that more or less chose to do this shit job. I landed myself here. I made a lot of stupid mistakes as a kid and wound up on my back. But I can leave any time I want. Someday I’ll do something else, I’ll have to. But right now I make good money doing massage and fucking. My choice,” PJ said.
“Without going too far off track, what do you think you’ll do?” Deja asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve been kind of hoping I could work with you guys. Do something with the others. Maybe run a club. I haven’t figured it out yet. That’s why I try to help when you need it.”
Michelle nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She turned to Nikky. “What else?”
“Outside of Houston, they have operations in two cities,” Nikky said.
“How many women? Deja asked.
“It looks like forty-five.” Nikky said. “All together, counting the women with us here, and those we sent to New Orleans, there were eighty-seven.”
“That ain’t right!” Deja said.
“Also, these cities are strange,” Nikky said.
“What do you mean strange?” Michelle asked.
“They’re in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Billings, Montana. Basically no-place USA. What do you make of that?” Nikky asked.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Deja said.
“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” PJ said.
“Da, I don’t know these places,” Jelena said.
“Mayberry,” Michelle said.
“Where?” Deja asked.
“Mayberry’s the town from that old TV show where everybody is straight-up hicks. They’re all super naïve and will buy a bunch of shit anybody feeds them. A few years back, the bangers started going to smaller cities and towns to carve out turf. They called it going to Mayberry,” Michelle said.
“Let me understand this,” Nikky said. “These are all smaller sized cities with no local organizations with any real muscle? That means it’s easy to move in. Basically, it's easy as compared to pushing into the big places like Dallas or Chicago?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” Michelle replied, “but yeah, a lot easier than the big cities”
“That means there are two Mayberry cities where we know there are women being held,” Nikky said.
“That’s exactly what it means,” Michelle said.
“When do we leave?” Nikky asked.
“Christ, Nikky, you don’t even have all of your teeth fixed yet. No way, I won’t even consider your paying another price like in Houston. But I can’t imagine not going either.”
Nikky looked at Deja. “Don’t say it.”
“Don’t say what?” Deja asked. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Don’t say, ‘dee-limm-aaa’ cause it isn’t one. No way. I’m not sitting-out on no shit like this,” Nikky said.
“I wasn’t going to say a thing, honest,” Deja held her hands up in surrender.
“Here’s the thing,” Michelle said. “Fast Eddie and most of his crew were Black men. So is Jack-Move. Ascia was White. We don’t know who the other pimps are. But we do know they’re all men. They are men who’re holding women as slaves in America. This isn’t some far off place you see on TV, this is right here. As a Black woman in America, I can’t know about it, and let it be. I can’t do it.”
“That’s what I mean,” Nikky said. “There isn’t a dilemma about being involved. The more I found out, the more I realized the only dilemma is how to do whatever it is we need to do. That points to you.” Nikky looked at Michelle.
“There’re two cities with different sets of circumstances,” Michelle said. “Each one will need to be looked at in detail to see the strong and weak points. We’ll have to make a careful plan for how to deal with each situation as well as an overview plan. This is going to be a big, big job. On top of that we’ll also have to be even more careful about what to do with the women after we get them out.”
“It doesn’t matter when it happens,” Nikky said. “I’m in. I’ll do what I can, depending on how healed up I am, at the time.”
“Me too,” Deja said.
“Da, me and most of my girls will do what we can,” Jelena said. “Those womans are from our home country. We need to help. We will help set them free.”
“Like I said, we need to figure out what to do after they’re free. We can’t bring almost fifty more non-English speaking women to Anglewatts. We can’t put them on the streets without support and we don’t have the money to take care of them,” Michelle said.
“I have an idea, if you would like to hear it?” PJ said.
“Shoot,” Michelle replied.
“Let me,” PJ said.
“Let you what?” Michelle asked.
“Send me to copy what you’ve done here. Give the women a choice. Hire muscle, both men and women out of the hood. Treat it like a business. Like a McDonald’s. You guys own the company and I’m the shareholder or something like that,” PJ said.
“You mean like a company owned store in a franchise system. We put up the experience, management support, systems and money. You run the business. We don’t have to live in Montana, but you and your girls do. The market isn’t flooded there and you have your own store. Is that what you mean?” Nikky asked.
“Exactly,” PJ said.
Everybody at the table looked at Michelle.
She closed her eyes, then looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “You realize that makes this basically a franchise just like Ascia set up?”
“On paper it might look the same. Except one huge difference. The girls will be free to go anytime they want. They’ll be working for a living, their choice,” Nikky said.
“That’s right,” PJ agreed.
“Well, given current circumstances the money might be tight, but I’m sure we can make a way. So, yeah, PJ, it looks like you’re going to Mayberry.”
Thirty-Eight: Mayberry Pie
MICHELLE, NIKKY, AND DEJA were the first to show up. Trevon came next, then PJ.
It wasn’t a debriefing, because all of that had been done several times. It wasn’t a meeting of the survivors, because not everyone involved showed up and not everyone who showed up was directly involved. It was more a gathering of a bunch of friends using lunch as a reason for an informal celebration.
Baby-Sister, G-Baby, and Jelena were the last to arrive at Scott’s Diner for the late lunch.
“Scott, you’ve been hovering ever since we came in. What’s up with that?” Deja asked.
“I’m not hovering, I’m making sure Nikky has everything she needs. I want her visit to be good. It’s her first time here since she got back.” Scott turned to Nikky. “Speaking of which, do you need anything else?”
“No, just the tea is fine. Thanks,” Nikky said.
“Anybody else? Y’all good?” Scott asked. “PJ?, Jelena? No? Okay, let me know if you need anything.”
“What’s up with him?” Deja asked. “He’s been like a mother hen since we came in.”
“I think he’s cute,” PJ said.
“Who, Scott? He’s not cute. He’s like thirty-seven, and besides, he’s Scott. He can’t be cute,” Deja said.
Michelle left the table and walked back to Scott’s tiny office in the back room of the diner. “If this stuff can wait, can you join us?”
“Give me a little time, I have
to get some checks ready for a couple of the guys who are headed home,” Scott said.
“Back to Mexico?” Michelle asked.
“Yeah, I hate to lose them, but something came up and I want to make sure they get paid before they leave and they are on their way over. I’ll be out as soon as I can,” Scott said.
Returning to the table, Michelle asked, “Did I miss anything?”
“Almost, I was going to tell you young ladies a truth,” Baby-Sister said.
“Which is?” Deja asked.
“Here’s a truth,” Baby-Sister said. “You’ll all be twenty-five in about two minutes. I swear thirty feels like only a day after that. I mean, here I am, thirty, um, something, and it seems like, well you heard it all before, time flies. Here I am in my thirties and having a good man, one I can count on, feels real good. No pretty face can look that good to me. G is almost fifteen years older than me and he looks better every day.”
“Even after being shot in the ass?” Deja asked.
“Hell yes, even more now. His being shot scared the shit outta me. I’m glad it was only his ass,” Baby-Sister said.
“It was my leg too. I took a bullet in the leg and kept going to cover . . . My ass just got . . .” G-Baby looked at a wall of bored faces. “Oh, never mind.”
“Give it up, Unc,” Michelle said. “Nobody cares about nothing but that you got shot in the ass.”
“G-Baby, I’ve been meaning to ask. What was all of that singing Happy Birthday in the elevator,” Deja asked.
“Oh, that. Yeah, well I knew I had to keep everyone’s head down,” G-Baby said.
“And? I still don’t see what singing had to with anything. You don’t sound that bad,” Deja said.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to count shots, especially with those extended mags that hold thirty-something rounds. So I tested it and found it took the same time to sing a round of Happy Birthday as it took to empty one mag. That way I knew when a change was gonna come,” G-Baby said.
“You know, I think getting shot in the ass did something to your mind,” Deja said.
“You’re mos’ def’ wrong on that, Deja,” Baby-Sister said. “His mind’s been like that all along. The scar on his ass is a reminder of what a wonderful man he is. Isn’t that right, Baby?”
Hard Win (Michelle Angelique Avenging Angel Series 3) Page 22
