CheckMate (Play At Your Own Risk)

by Mickens, Tiece

  “That man in the Tahoe has been shot! I think he’s dead!” Everybody ran out the store as they surrounded the vehicle.

  “Oh, my GOD! What in the hell happened? NO, MAN! No! NO! MAN! NO! Not Rico, man. Somebody call 911. Hurry up! Please, hurry up!” Monty screamed as he held Rico’s hand. Rico was bleeding from his chest and leg. Monty looked around searching for answers, but he didn’t see anyone. Rico squeezed Monty’s hand while trying to say something, but before he could speak, he blanked out. “Please, man. Just hold on. Help is on the way. Please, Rico, man. What happened? Who did this to you?” Monty asked as Rico lie there helpless. Monty held onto Rico’s bloody, unconscious body and cried like a baby. He couldn’t believe someone shot Rico like that in broad daylight and left without a trace. He managed to go through his pocket and find his cell to call Catherine.

  The police finally came to the store and searched Monty’s vehicle for evidence as the paramedics took Rico’s lifeless body out of the Tahoe and covered him up. Monty stood there shaking and crying as Catherine and Mona pulled up to pick him up. Catherine jumped out of the car and ran over to Monty screaming, and then fell in his arms. Mona stayed in the car while placing her head on the dashboard and sobbed like a baby as she saw them putting Rico’s body in the back of the ambulance.

  An officer came over and got Monty’s cell phone number, then told him that he’d give him a call if they came up with any new evidence. The officer gave Monty his card with the number where he could be reached if Monty could remember anything specific that would help them find out who had done this. Monty got in the car with Mona and Catherine, and sat still trying to figure out the events that had just taken place.

  “What happened, Monty?” Catherine asked. She could barely talk.

  “I don’t know, Mama. But, I picked up Rico because he told me he had something very important to tell me. I never got the chance to hear what it was about and I believe this shooting had something to do with it. I never knew of him being in any trouble. Something just wasn’t right with him today when I picked him up. He looked worried, as if he knew this could possibly happen to him. I don’t know, Mama. I just don’t know.” Monty wiped the tears from his eyes, very sad that his friend was being rushed to the hospital. “Let’s just go and find out what his condition is.” As they were leaving, the tow truck finally pulled up and Catherine backed out of the store’s parking lot to head over to the hospital to check on Rico’s condition.

  “We didn’t tell Candy what happened yet. I didn’t think you wanted her to hear it from us. She might’ve really gotten upset worrying about you,” said Catherine.

  “Well, I’m glad y’all didn’t say anything to her. She probably couldn’t take it like that unless I’m around her when she finds out.” Monty’s cell phone rang. He looked down and answered it. “Hello,” Monty answered.

  “Hello, Monty. We need you to come down to the police station, please. We have a witness here that is willing to tell us the full details of what may have happened. We do believe this is the key to finding out who did this to your friend.”

  “Can you just take the statement and I’ll come in later to catch up, because it’s very important I check on Rico and find out if he’ll make it through this.” Monty hung up the phone quickly.

  “Who was that?” Catherine asked out of concern.

  “It’s the detective at the police station. Apparently, they already got a witness who knows what happened and why. That witness is ready to give a statement about it. But, I can’t go be a part of that right now. I have to check on my boy. Ma, please call Rico’s mama and tell her what happened. I can’t, I don’t know how to even say it.”

  “Don’t worry, son. I’ll make the phone call for you,” Catherine said to him as they pulled up to the hospital. When the car was parked, Monty immediately jumped out and rushed into the hospital, leaving Mona and Catherine behind. Catherine made the phone call to Rico’s mama as she sat in the car trying to figure out what to say to her.

  Monty made his way up to the Intensive Care Unit, and then asked about Rico’s health. The doctor informed him that Rico was still living, but fighting for his life.

  “He seems to be a healthy young man, and if he pulls through this, he’ll be just fine health wise. But, mentally, this may take a while for him to get over. At this point, though, he is still unconscious, but breathing on his own.”

  Monty sighed with just a little relief as he stood outside of Rico’s room and watched him from afar. The tears rolled down his cheeks. He was very close to Rico, as if he was a true brother to him. They had gone way back and knew everything about each other. So, to see him lying in that bed like that hurt Monty to his heart. He said a prayer for Rico as he stood there. The doctor walked over to tell him that he could leave and go home to clean himself up. He still had blood all over his clothes. So, he agreed with the doctor, who insisted he’d call if Rico’s condition changed, whether it was for the good or bad.

  Monty walked out to the car while Catherine was entering the hospital with Rico’s mom. He walked over and hugged Mama Mack. She cried in his arms, but he informed her of Rico’s condition, which was looking up, and told her continue praying because he’d pull through. Rico’s Uncle Ben shook Monty’s hand while tears overwhelmed his eyes. Mama Mack kissed Monty on his cheek as Ben grabbed his sister by the hand and headed into the hospital to go check on her son.

  Monty didn’t wanna go straight home. He wanted to stop by the police station first. Catherine pulled up to the station and Monty got out of the car. As he was walking in, he thought he noticed Karen’s best friend leaving out. He didn’t consider much of it, just entered, anyway. He asked for the detective on the case, the one who had called him, and was told to wait in his office for him to return from the evidence room. Monty sat there almost impatiently waiting for some answers.

  Was that Karen’s nosy ass friend coming out of here? Monty thought. What in the hell has she gotten her ugly as into I wonder? That ugly bitch is always up to no good with her trouble making ass. Monty began to shake her out of his thoughts just as Detective Garrett walked in.

  “Well, what’s up, Monty? How is your friend?”

  “He’s strong. He’ll survive. I just know that he will.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that. I pray he gets well. I see you haven’t even changed your clothes, so I’m not gonna hold you here, but I do have information that you’d be very interested in.”

  “Well, don’t waste any more time. Please, tell me what the deal is.” Monty slid to the edge of his seat, still wondering what the hell went down earlier.

  “I’m not sure if you know her, but Miss Tracy Morris came in after she heard about the shooting and gave information on who did this to your friend. Apparently, she’d been giving her best friend’s boyfriend information about her cheating on him,” Detective Garrett explained as he scratched his head.

  What the hell! You mean to tell me that shit was meant for me? Monty thought. That shit is old as hell. I know this bitch isn’t still keeping up that bullshit because I hadn’t been with Karen in a long time.

  “Well, it’s sad to say, but Miss Morris was being paid by this high roller by the name of Bruce Bigsby, to give out information on his child’s mother. Miss Morris had the nerve to hide a hidden camera in her so called best friend’s house and caught some very graphic details of Bigsby’s lady cheating on him.”

  What the hell!

  “Yeah, well, to make a long story short. I’ll play a little piece of this video for you. Mind you, it’s an eye opener,” Detective Garrett said. He played the video Miss Morris brought in.

  The video started off with Karen sitting in a very familiar living room Monty had been in several times. She watched TV in a navy blue silk robe. The doorbell rang, and when she opened it, Rico walked in. Monty’s mouth dropped as he watched his homeboy on the tape as Karen handed him some money and came out of the robe.

  What the hell! Monty questioned as he looke
d closely at the video.

  Karen pulled Rico’s pants down and sucked his dick like a pro before Rico layed it down right there on the living room sofa, with Karen bent over as he hit it from the back. Rico was like a beast on Karen. He was fucking her so good that she was acting as if she’d never had it like that before. She moaned and squealed so loud, like she knew she was on camera getting her fifteen minutes of fame. She loved it.

  “Stop the video,” said Monty. “You can take it out now. I don’t need to see anymore.”

  “Well, Miss Morris obviously is feeling very bad and responsible for her so called best friend lying in the hospital severely beaten and your friend almost shot to death. She snuck this video out of Bruce’s glove compartment earlier today, but not before he could watch it first some time ago. She knows he shot Rico and put his ole lady in the hospital. The great thing about it is that we’ve been tracking this man down for some time and we got him now. He’s going down. Maybe not for the drug dealing he’s been doing for so long, but we’ll get him with one charge at a time. I hope your friend pulls through. You can go home and clean yourself up now. Thanks for coming in here to check on this case. I appreciate it.”

  Monty shook Detective Garrett’s hand. He was speechless. He walked out of the police station, not knowing what to tell his nosy mama and his brokenhearted sister, who was obviously in pain and still shook up. But, whatever he would tell them wouldn’t be the truth.

  Damn, that’s fucked up, thought Monty. Why didn’t Rico just tell me he’d been fucking Karen? We are boys. Ain’t no scalawag gonna come between us. That’s my dog. What was he thinking about? No wonder Rico was still getting paid after he slowed down selling drugs. Bruce did that shit to Rico. That’s why he’d been mean mugging us like that and shit. Rico was trying to tell me, but he just didn’t have the chance. Damn, man, damn!

  Chapter Twenty-two

  A few days after all the drama and commotion, Monty made plans to go see Rico after hearing that he was conscious and asking for him. Monty was happy to hear that Rico had fully pulled through and immediately left Candy’s house to go see him. Monty walked in Rico’s hospital room and was glad to see him sitting up and watching TV.

  “Hey, my man, don’t just stand there like that, come over and give me some dap.” Rico was excited to see Monty.

  “Hey, what’s up, dawg? I’m just glad to see you sitting there like that and talking to me.” Monty walked over and gave Rico dap as they touched fist to fist and hugged.

  “Me, too, man. I don’t remember nothing but seeing Bruce pull up to your Tahoe and pointing that gun at me. Before I could duck, he was already unloading and the loud sounds of the gunshots were the last thing I remember. I don’t remember even being hit. Ain’t that some shit?”

  “Hell yeah, man. All I remember was hearing the shots and hitting the ground. When I opened the door up, you kinda fell out in my arms. I ain’t gone lie, dawg, I thought you were dead at first. That was some scary shit.” Monty shook his head as if he was trying to clear those thoughts out of his mind. “It just shocked me when I found out that Bruce was the one who shot you.”

  “Well, man, I wanted to tell you something that I’d been keeping from you for a while, but didn’t know how to just come out and say it.”

  “You know we go way back, man. You should have just said it. Nothing could come between us. We’ve been like brothers since the first day we met, and have always had each other’s back.”

  “I know, man, but I did do some real sneaky shit and I wasn’t so happy about the way I went about things. Even though I’m a fresh, good looking brother,” said Rico as he sat up and tried to look in the mirror while smiling. “There was always something about you that had me feeling just a little insecure. You were always the outgoing one, carefree, and had no limit when it came down to women. You would do whatever, whenever you wanted to. I was always cautious, very shy, and didn’t really open up to any woman until I started hanging out with you. You showed a brotha how to live and I was happy about that. After I ventured out and began selling drugs, the more money in my pockets made me feel a lot more confident about everything.” Rico laid his head back on the pillow and sighed.

  “Bruh, never mind all that, because I knew how you were back in the days and never could figure out why you were so shy and cautious all the time, but you still should have known that no matter what, you could talk to me about anything.”

  “I know, and I wanna tell you right now that I never meant for things to turn out like this. That day you left your phone over my house was the start of things. I went through it and called one of your pawns. Karen was the first call I made, and after talking with her, I felt like I should call some of the others a little later. You know, just getting prepared for when I would take over. I called it getting my feet wet, well, not quite my feet, but you know.” Monty grinned as Rico felt more comfortable in explaining things. “I only got with Karen and one other pawn that you don’t know about, but I need to tell you about that…”

  Monty interrupted Rico. “Hey, no worries, man. I ain’t sweating that shit. I’m just glad you’re alright and Bruce big ass is behind bars. I never cared for those women and you know it. That’s why they were pawns. I never took my eye off of the prize. I hate you felt the need to go through my phone behind my back, because if you would’ve asked, I would’ve given you what you wanted. Next time, just talk to a brotha and things will be much smoother.” Rico gave Monty dap. “Oh yeah, I got something in line for us when you get better and get out of here. I own a nice building downtown on Broad Street, thanks to Monica. We’re going to use it to open up a nice realty company.”

  “You serious, man?”

  “Hell yeah. I told you I never take my eye off of the prize. I’ll teach you all about the business and we’ll both attend some classes and seminars. It’ll all come together. You’ll see.” Rico really began to smile. “I’ll talk to you more about it later. I gotta go, man, because Candy is waiting for me to come back. You know we’re anxiously waiting for our son to come anytime soon.”

  “I know, man. Have y’all decided on a name?”

  “What do you think his name is going to be?”

  “I should’ve known. So, he is gonna be lil’ MJ, huh?”

  “And, you know this. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Speaking of babies, dawg, I need to tell you one more thing,” said Rico as Monty’s phone rang.

  “Hold on, man, Candy is calling me.” Monty answered the phone quickly. “Hey, man, I gotta go. My lady needs me over to her house ASAP. I hope she’s about ready to give birth to our son. I’ll catch up with you later.” Monty rushed out of the hospital room as Rico lay there feeling happy for his boy and about the business proposition.

  Monty pulled up to Candy’s house and saw Catherine and Mona were already helping Candy walk outside. He jumped out, picked her up, and then put her in his Tahoe. He headed toward the hospital. Catherine and Mona followed close behind him. Then, soon as they made it to the emergency room doors, Candy’s water broke.

  “Oh, my God,” Candy screamed. She felt the warm water run down her legs before the nurse quickly pushed her to the delivery room.

  Monty stayed right by Candy’s side while the nurses told her to push. Candy pushed while Monty’s face lit up. With every thrust, he got happier, looking for his little bundle of joy to peep out. At first, he noticed the slick black hair as his son made his way into the world. Monty’s eyes became teary. The nurse caught a nice grip after Candy pushed for the last time, and the baby came out. Monty was then asked to cut the cord as he kissed Candy on the forehead and smiled.

  “You did good, baby. You really did good.” The nurse immediately put the baby on the scale and Monty shouted out, “We got us a seven pound, seven ounce, healthy baby boy.”

  Candy smiled while tears rolled down her face. “I’m so happy right now, Monty. We just had our son and Rico’s doing a lot better. We are one little happy family
.”

  Candy looked around as Catherine stood there smiling as she just watched her first grandson being born. Mona was also overjoyed to have been a part of the delivery and thought about some day having a baby of her own. Candy smiled while she held Monty’s hand tightly. The nurse showed them the baby and walked out to clean him up.

  “I’ll bring him right back.”

  “That’s right! Because all I need is my family. I ain’t worried about nobody or nothing else,” Monty replied just as Candy’s cell phone rang. “Answer that. It’s probably Linda.”

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hello, Candy. This is Monica Hunter. Monty’s ex girlfriend. I got your number out of his cell phone. I want you to know that your man has been with me for at least three months while you were supposedly away in Atlanta. He was with me on New Years. And, yeah, that would also be his birthday. By the way, he slept over. We really had a fantastic time celebrating and I’m glad we shared such a special day together. I know you’re having his baby soon, but I don’t give a damn about that because I’m having a baby too. I know he probably told you I’m pregnant with his child because he was so afraid of me telling you myself. But, the truth is, I’m pregnant with Rico’s child, not Monty’s. I don’t care to continue to carry on with such a lie. I already know he wants a blood test and that’s why I’m calling. My baby doesn’t need to go through all that unnecessary shit when I already know who the father really is. The truth is that I just wanted you to find out that he’d been sleeping around with me ever since I returned and the only reason he chose you was because of the baby that you were having.” Candy looked over at Monty who was anxiously waiting to hold his son, and then over at Mona who stood there as she sighed like she was irritated about something. “So, you can keep your lying ass man on your arm and enjoy your family together because I’m moving far away from this place. I don’t want any more memories of this janky ass city. I should’ve stayed gone when I left the first time. Good luck on having your baby. Bye, trick,” said Monica before she hung up the phone.