City Lights

by George Sherman Hudson

  “Look, this is what’s going on. First, they are more than likely going to get you indicted on the RICO Act and have all of your assets and accounts seized until all of this is over. Hopefully, it’s not too late for Constance to pull your money before the injunction is signed off on. Second… well, the truth is, I don’t really know what all they got on you right now, but I’ll find out in due time so we can prepare. Third—and most importantly—we’re going to do everything we can to get you up out of here,” Todd said forcefully, looking at Real over the rims of his gold-framed glasses.

  “Man, they can’t have too much. I’m very discreet in everything I do,” Real assured Todd.

  “Real, being totally honest with you, the way the U.S. attorney is talking, they got more than enough—especially coming after you with the RICO Act. You are probably not too familiar with the RICO, so let me explain. A RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court because it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts,” Todd explained as Real slumped down into his chair.

  “Todd, look, I need you to pull all of the strings you can to get me out of here. I don’t care what the cost. I will pay you one way or the other,” Real said as he stood up and started pacing back and forth in the small room.

  “I’m going to dig deep and find out everything they’ve got. Just give me a couple of days. In the mean time, we are going to try to get you a bond.”

  “A’ight. Man, I need you to beat this shit for me,” Real said adamantly.

  “I’m going to do everything in my power. You have my word,” Todd assured Real as he stood at the door, signaling for the guard to open it.

  “I appreciate it, man… and tell my baby I love her,” Real said as Todd walked out the door with a reassuring nod.

  The guard locked Real in the room while he escorted Todd back to the front. A few minutes later, the guard was back to get Real. After the same pat-down routine, Real was escorted back to the holding cell.

  While Real was being escorted back to the holding cell, Cash was upstairs getting the news from a guard that Real had been arrested and brought in.

  Chapter 29

  Four days later, a black Chevy Tahoe with four men in it pulled into the G-Spot parking lot. Seeing that the club was closed, the driver picked up his cell phone and placed a call. “The place is closed,” he said. “You got any more info on him?” he asked Milo.

  “Not at this time. Let me make a few calls and call you right back,” Milo said as he looked through his Rolodex for the number of his Italian connect in the Atlanta police department.

  Milo was surprised at the news he got from his APD connect, who told him Real was locked up and being held at the Atlanta federal holding facility, awaiting trial on numerous charges. Milo called the men off and made a call to Angelo .

  “I don’t care where the fuck he is, he is still going to pay,” Angelo told Milo forcefully.

  “I agree. His trial is in a couple of weeks. I will follow it closely,” Milo said, pondering how he might get at Real in prison.

  “Okay, and if he’s found guilty, I have connections on the inside that will gladly take care of him for a small fee,” Angelo said menacingly. “Hell, some of those guys will whack somebody for a fucking pack of cigarettes.”

  “Good. I will let you know the outcome,” Milo said, ending the call.

  In the heart of Atlanta, Constance was getting ready to go visit Real. She was no longer staying in the mansion. She had purchased a modest two-bedroom condo early in the week when the feds filed the injunction on all of Real’s property and assets. The only things she was left with were her Bentley and her bank account, which was well over a million bucks. She was glad Real had taken her advice and invested. She cashed out all of the stock listed in her name and added the $4.5 million to her bank account also.

  Constance made her way down to the federal building to see Real. Pulling into the parking lot, she found the first empty space and parked. As she eagerly headed up to the door to see her lover, she almost broke a heel rushing to get in. She showed her identification to the overweight Black woman working the desk. After looking Constance’s name up on the computer to make sure she was on Real’s visitation list, the woman pushed the button that opened the glass double doors that led to the visitation area.

  A guard escorted Constance to the visiting room, where she was seated behind a glass wall as she waited patiently for Real to come out. A few minutes later, Real was brought in. He was dressed in a prison jumpsuit and seated on the other side of the glass.

  “Hey, baby!” Constance yelled as her eyes began to water.

  “Hey, boo,” Real smiled, looking through the glass at his beautiful Constance.

  “How are you doing, baby? I want you home! Why haven’t you called?” Constance asked.

  “They won’t let me use the phone yet. What is going on? What is Todd doing?” Real asked, concerned.

  “Baby, they took everything. I had to get a condo downtown. They got the house, all the cars—well, except for my Bentley—and they froze your accounts. They got everything, baby! Todd said he is working on a bond. I… I just don’t know what to do,” Constance said as she broke down and started crying.

  “I figured it would happen sooner or later. Todd had warned me. Don’t worry about it, baby. Everything is going to be alright,” Real said, assuring Constance with a strong voice, even though he wasn’t so sure himself.

  “I hope so,” Constance cried.

  “Everything else okay?”

  “Yes. Oh…a guy named B-Low came by the house when the movers were packing everything. I figured it was okay to tell him about the situation, being that he knew where we stayed, so I knew you trusted him. He gave me a number to give to you,” Constance said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “A’ight. Just hold onto that number. When they move me upstairs, I’ll be able to use the phone, and I’ll call him then,” Real said.

  They talked a little more about the case, and time flew by. Before they knew it, the guard was knocking on Real’s door to let him know the short visitation was over with.

  “Dang,” Constance sighed, hating to leave.

  “You hold your head up, baby. We got this! I promise you I’ll be home soon,” Real said with confidence as Constance stood to leave.

  “I hope so. I love you,” Constance said sadly as she got up to leave.

  “Love you too,” Real replied and smiled, though he was crying on the inside.

  Chapter 30

  One Month Later…

  After being denied bond, Real was moved upstairs to a regular housing unit. He had reached out to B-Low but kept his conversation short just in case the feds were listening in. He gave B-Low his word that he would still look out, no matter what the outcome of the case is.

  Constance visited on a regular basis, hoping and praying it would be all over soon.

  Todd was diligently working on the case and so far had gotten the wire taps suppressed because of the State’s improper disclosure. Now, the only thing the feds had to work with was their star witness Corey Fields, better known as Cash.

  “I can’t believe this nigga snitching on me after all I’ve done for him,” Real barked as he and Todd sat behind the defendants’ table in the courtroom, dressed in the finest suit money could buy, waiting on Real’s trial to start.

  “Corey is the most crucial part of their case. I got to discredit him, which won’t be too hard. The one thing they don’t know that I know is that Corey was arrested with over ten kilos in a two-week time frame. I’m going to show the jury what a desperate man will do to save himself…finger his friend who’s a legitimate businessman. I’m going to rip old Corey apart on the stand,” Todd said with a smile.

  “Man, I can’t believe this nigga,” Real said as he adjusted his tie.

  Constance sat behind the defendants’ table in the rear of the courtroom with Bible in hand, silently praying for Real. She watched intently as the trial s
tarted.

  The prosecutor was way off course without the wire tap conversations. Her whole case was based solely on Cash’s testimony. After Todd and the prosecutor went blow for blow, the judge told them to call their witnesses. Todd didn’t have any witnesses, but the State did.

  “The State calls Corey Fields to the stand,” the prosecutor announced as the courtroom suddenly went quiet and Cash was brought in from the back dressed in slacks and a dress shirt.

  As Cash walked across the floor, he had to pass directly in front of Real’s table. He abruptly turned his head as Real made eye contact with him.

  Constance watched Cash also in disbelief as he walked through the courtroom. Real had told her about the betrayal, but she never thought he would actually take the stand against Real, being that they were like family. Cash walked in a slump over up to the witness stand and took a seat behind the microphone.

  “Mr. Fields, is the man in question in the room?” the prosecutor asked as she paced the floor in front of the stand.

  “Yes,” Cash uttered, trying his best not to look in Real’s direction.

  “Could you please point him out?” The prosecutor ordered as she turned to Real’s direction.

  Cash looked up, now having to make eye contact with Real. They met each other’s glance as Cash’s arm came up with finger extended directly at Real.

  “Is that the man, Richard Walker, the one in the brown suit?” the prosecutor asked Cash to get a verbal confirmation for the record.

  “Yes,” Cash mumbled as the prosecutor started asking question after question. Before she finished, she had Real looking like a murdering, money-laundering, drug dealer who had no regard for anybody’s life but his own.

  Right after the prosecutor finished her tirade, Todd got up and started questioning Cash. Todd went real easy, loosening Cash up for the most important question of the day. “Mr. Fields, even though the prosecutor didn’t include any records of this in the discovery, which is mandatory by law, I want to ask you myself just to make it part of the record. Did you get arrested twice—not once, but twice—with over ten kilos of cocaine in your possession both times?” Todd asked firmly as he stepped back and took in the surprised look on Cash’s and the jurors’ faces. Todd knew this one question alone would kill the prosecutor’s whole case.

  Cash sat on the stand, dumbfounded, not knowing whether to lie and perjure himself or to tell the truth. He looked over at the prosecutor, who sat at the table fiddling with some papers like she hadn’t heard the question.

  “Sir, do you need for me to ask you the question again? Did you or did you not get arrested? Were you not granted immunity for your bogus testimony here today?” Todd asked Cash.

  After answering, “Yes,” Cash was dismissed and led out of the courtroom. Cash silently prayed for a guilty verdict, because he knew Real was plotting revenge. As miserable as lockup was, he’d rather be on the inside, safe from Real if Real was found not guilty.

  After wrapping up the closing arguments, Todd took a seat back at table while the jury was led from the courtroom for deliberation.

  An hour later, the jury returned.

  “Now is the moment of truth,” Todd said, looking over at Real, who had turned and looked back at Constance, who held her head down in silent prayer.

  The jury foremen stood and spoke. “We, the jury, find Richard Walker not guilty on all counts.”

  Constance screamed in the back of the courtroom while Real and Todd shook hands. Just as Real was about to head over to Constance, an Atlanta policeman who had sat through the whole trial grabbed him and put him in cuffs.

  “Man, hold up! What the fuck you doing?” Real yelled as Todd hurried over.

  “You have an outstanding warrant for an illegal firearm that was in your possession when you were arrested,” the big Black, bald-headed policeman told Real.

  Constance bolted from the back of the courtroom to see what was going on.

  “Real, just be easy. I’ll take care of it,” Todd said as the officer escorted Real outside to his patrol car.

  “Baby, it’s cool,” Real told Constance as she followed.

  A few weeks later, after vigorous litigating, Todd lost out. Real was sentenced to five years for the gun. Todd’s words still rang in Real’s ears, “Sometimes the small cases are harder than the bigger ones.”

  After sentencing, Real was shipped from Rice Street to CSSP, a diagnostic prison way down south. After going through the diagnostic process, Real was transferred to GSCP, the most dangerous prison in the State of Georgia.

  After the federal trial, Cash was given immunity and released. After lying low for a while, he set up shop again in the city of Macon.

  Back in Atlanta, Constance filed paperwork on Real’s behalf to get their property back while she worked vigorously to build up her newly established realtor business.

  B-Low was steadily taking over the streets of Atlanta. With the money Real fronted him, he traveled down to Jacksonville, Florida, to shop for some work and met Juan, the son of Pablo, one of the South’s biggest drug suppliers.

  While everybody was trying to get back on track in Real’s absence, Real was steadily trying to stay alive in GSCP, where two gangs were trying to earn the half-million-dollar bounty that the Italians were offering for his death.

  PART TWO

  THE FALL

  Chapter 31

  “Yeah right there! Oh shit, suck that dick! Oh fuck I…I’m about to…”

  “Blam! Blam!” The gun rang out in the expensively furnished luxury condo, splitting the head of Red- one of Macon, Georgia’s biggest drug dealers.

  “Nigga, you got to close!” Lace screamed at Cash, who quickly tucked the glock 40 in his waist and started searching the condo for Red’s stash.

  “Bitch quit tripping and just help me find this loot!” Cash screamed as he turned over the custom made furniture in his search.

  Cash and Lace were on a mission to get rich whatever the cost. Cash met Lace three months ago at Club Erotica one of Macon’s most popular strip clubs. After realizing they were both from Atlanta and both on the grind to come up, they exchanged numbers.

  Cash knew he desperately needed someone down for the cause since he was in a new city and unfamiliar territory. Lace was just what Cash was looking for because she was down for the come up and just like himself, he knew Lace would kill with no questions asked.

  Having been released by the feds after his testimony in Real’s trial; Cash relocated to Macon because he knew before long niggas all over the city of Atlanta would be gunning for him for being a snitch. While sitting in jail waiting to testify on Real, his house was foreclosed on and his Benz was repossessed, all he had was his hooptie, three thousand dollars, his 9mm and a plan to come up. After being released he packed what he had left and headed down south to Macon with plans to get back on top.

  “Where the fuck this nigga keep the money,” Lace called out as she went from room to room searching.

  Lace was the true definition of a gangsta bitch. On top of that she was one of the baddest bitches out of Atlanta. Her small waist, wide hips and big ass like Buffy the Body had not just men but also women pushing up on her. Sipping on a glass of Hennessy in Club Erotica one night, Cash spotted the green eyed Lace from across the club as her bow legs and thick thighs jiggled to the sound of Rick Ross blasting from the club sound system. He walked over and introduced himself. Since that night they’ve been plotting and scheming on every kind of hustle imaginable.

  Cash really wasn’t Lace’s type but after finding out he was from Atlanta and out to get paid by whatever means necessary, she became totally interested. Lace was down and out also and the money she made in the club wasn’t enough for her to maintain her diva lifestyle. After listening to Cash’s plans to come up, she knew if she got down with him she would most definitely get paid; besides, she saw herself in Cash, a heartless hustler down for getting money by any means necessary, even if it called for murder.

  “Bi
ngo!” Cash screamed from the back bedroom.

  “Shit!” Lace screamed as she stepped in the room where Cash was and saw the overturned mattress filled with tightly wrapped stacks of money.

  “This nigga wasn’t bullshitting! Let’s pack this shit and get up out of here,” Cash said as he started pulling the wads of money out of the gutted out mattress.

  Lace and Cash packed the money up and discreetly exited Red’s condo locking the door behind them.

  “That’s what I’m talking ‘bout! Give this boss bitch a kiss,” Lace said as she leaned over to Cash who was behind the wheel of the old Lebaron.

  “Bitch back up didn’t you just get a dick out ya mouth! You trying me,” Cash snapped.

  “Damn! I’m sorry I fuckin’ forgot and you know I ain’t trying you,” Lace replied, knowing Cash wasn’t to be tested in no kind of way, not if you wanted to live.

  They rode through Macon in silence back out to Lace’s apartment near Popular Street. The whole ride home Lace stared out the window and plotted on a way to kill Cash so she could keep all the money. Little did she know that Cash had the same thoughts as he navigated the old beat up Lebaron through the back streets of Macon.

  Chapter 32

  “You have a collect call from…Real…an inmate in a Georgia State Correctional Facility if you accept press five, if you…”

  Constance smiled as she waited for the operator to patch Real in.

  “Hey boo what’s going on?” Real asked as he put his back against the wall while talking staying fully aware of his surroundings.

  Real had been at GSCP now for a couple of months. New to the prison system, Real knew he had to adjust and fast. Real met Tino, from Atlanta, who gave him the run down on prison living. After hearing the men out Real couldn’t believe how you had to live on the inside just to survive.

  “Nothing much just missing the hell out of you,” Constance said as she looked out of her office window at the men and women downtown rushing back and forth to their destinations.