by David Weaver
“Malcolm, is that you?” No response.
“Jeffery! Is that you? Who are you talking to?”
No response, but the damn voices continued. I don’t understand how anyone could get past all of our security and end up in the house. It must be Malcolm ... and he must have company. She thought to herself, even though the voices didn’t sound like his. She decided to go find out what the hell was going on. She jumped up and ran towards the voices that she was hearing. Then she saw them. It was the intruders. It was the television. Jennifer was high.
$ $ $ $ $
The get-together at Club Splash that night was canceled. Pam, Brink, and Malcolm were at Sinai Memorial hospital in full support of Kyla. Catfish, Prince Tron, and Marco were out hunting. They took the surveillance footage from the Prime Stop by posing as FBI agents. They told the manager that they were in a hurry and left them a phony business card. The real police officers were searching the crime scene for clues and/or witnesses. The ambulance had already come and gone when Catfish came out with the footage. After studying the footage, Marco stated that he knew one of the guys. The driver. He lives on the east side and they call him “Cat,” or “Bird,” or “Wolf,” it was one of those three animals. Then they started the animal hunt. They were on a mission like no other. A member of the Bankroll Squad was on her death bed. The leader had been robbed. Retaliation was mandatory. If the streets caught wind of the Prime Stop incident, there’s no telling what would happen next. Everybody would be plotting. We have to make some examples, reasoned Catfish. They were all in the van dressed in all black. Even Prince Tron left his chain at home for this. The artillery they had was dangerous and illegal enough to get them all federal life sentences. Rocket launchers, grenade throwers, car bombs, and uzies. They had their ears to the streets and were following up every possible lead on the Animal’s whereabouts. At one of the bars, when Catfish went in to ask questions about the Animal, the bartender told him that she hadn’t heard anything about a stolen Bentley or a shooting. Then, after Catfish displayed a photo printout of the driver, the bartender recognized him
“ Ohhh, I know him. That’s Wolf.” She said.
“Wolf, you say? Tell me about him if you don’t mind.”
The bartender glared at him for a moment. “Well, actually I do mind, I’m working here. If
you’re not going to tip me then you need to keep it moving so that the people that do tip me can sit down and tip comfortably.”
She walked away and went to a customer. Catfish pulled a $50 bill out and waved it at her in order to get her attention. She saw it but continued serving the other customers. He looked at the long string of drinkers that were ahead of him and decided that since he didn’t have much time to just be sitting around waiting on her to serve them all, he reached in his pocket, pulled out a fistful of 100 dollar bills, and held them in the air. The bartender wasted no time in pouring Grey Goose for her current and hurriedly made her way back to Catfish. She was grinning, so was he.
“I figured that I could get some type of attention if I went about it like that.”
“Don’t be so sure of yourself. I just came to tell you to put your money back in your pocket. I’ll get to you when I get to you.”
With that, she smiled seductively and went to service another customer. If she wasn’t so pretty, Catfish would have pulled a pistol out on her. He went outside to tell Tron and Marco to give him a little more time, he might have a good lead. As soon as he told them that, they started reaching for their guns.
“Wait a minute.” Catfish directed.
“It’s just a girl. A bartender actually. I don’t need any help. Ya’ll just give me a few minutes!”
“Man fuck that!” Marco exclaimed.
“Anybody that has a lead on these bastards gotta’ come with us. Now!” Marco tucked the gun under his waistband and try to get out the van.
“Wait muthafucka!” Catfish was getting irritated.
Sometimes it seemed as though Marco thought he was in charge.
“You don’t think that I can get information out of a bitch?”
“Not if you thread the bitch’s lips together you asshole!”
“Fuck you Marco!”
Sensing that the situation was getting entirely out of control, Prince Tron intermediated.
“Stay focused!” Tron was shouting.
“Catfish, you’re the leader of this shit, so you know what’s best! Marco, this is not your specialty, so let this nigga’ do what he does best!”
He looked at Catfish with eyes of trust.
“Do your thing man, we gonna’ follow your lead regardless of what Marco says. We’re doing this for Kyla. We’re doing this for Malcolm, for the Squad, for respect and principles. We’re down for whatever!”
Catfish gave Tron a nod and walked back in the bar. Marco laid back in his seat. He exhaled. $ $ $ $ $
Sinai Memorial Hospital smelled like Lysol and death. It was gloomy and ice cold. The emergency room had a variety of different types of patients. One guy had endured a stroke at a gay porn theater. Another guy was suffering from internal bleeding, he had been hit by a car while trying to run across three lanes on a freeway to save a dog. It didn’t work. A construction worker had fallen off of a house and couldn’t feel anything on his body. These were Kyla Brent’s new neighbors. She was in a coma. Buckshots had been removed from her chest, shoulder, arm, and there were even a couple in her shoulder, arm, and there were even a couple in her gauge blast, a small piece of glass flew back and scarred the right side of her face. There was white gauze taped from the side of her eye down to the bottom of her cheek. The doctor told Malcolm that she probably wasn’t going to make it. He asked probably wasn’t? So there was a chance, right? The doctor answered No, more than likely she will not make it. Don’t get your hopes up. But she was fighting. She hadn’t let go yet. Malcolm, Brink, and Pam were in the waiting room in a prayer circle. They knew that it was only one person who could deliver her, and He would do so if it was His will. Pam was crying. Brink was crying. Malcolm was going crazy. If there would have been a gun around, he would have killed himself. Malcolm fell to his knees with his hands clasped together. Please Lord, please bring Kyla through this. He sat down and covered his face with his hands out of shame. Pam and Brink came to his side to comfort him. Pam put her hand on Malcolm’s shoulder reassuringly.
“It’s going to be okay Malcolm. We all love Kyla. I know we argue all the time, but nevertheless, she’s just like family to me. You know God always has a plan for everyone and everything. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” Malcolm asked.
“You’re telling me not to worry about Kyla, my ex-fiancé, who damn near gave her life trying to help me tonight? This woman adored me and I treated her like shit. And now I’m about to lose her!”
Malcolm’s eyes were wet and he was completely shaken up of the incident. In his mind, he kept replaying the scene. The robber’s instructions, then BOOM! He was knocked out afterwards, so he had no clue that Kyla had been shot until he saw her slumped over on the horn of the steering wheel. She had lost huge amounts of blood. Her fragile body had suffered from the effects of a 12-gauge blast. Why didn’t they just shoot me too? He thought to himself. At that very moment, he felt like the worst person in the world. He thought of all the horrible things that he had made Kyla endure and how no matter what he put her through, she still loved him completely. She loved him for who he was, not what he possessed. Not for what he did for a living, but for the characteristics that he was composed of. Unconditional love that never wavered regardless of the conditions. Malcolm thought of the good times that they shared. All of the times before the misunderstanding. She was the type of woman who was fascinated by the simplest of activities. Fishing. Cooking. His wife couldn’t cook a rat in a house fire, but he was attracted to the fact that she tried every day and night. He thought back to the time when him and Kyla graduated from college. She was headed to medical school and always had him
factored into every single one of her plans. He had other plans, one that required him to put aside everything that he had worked for. In her desire to make Malcolm happy, and against his and her family’s wishes, she threw her plans into the exact same bucket as Malcolm; and tried to follow his new, fastpaced plan for success. She followed it faithfully. Now she was on her death bed.
“Excuse me. Umm, Mr. Powers?” The doctor interrupted Malcolm’s train of thought.
“Yes, Doc?” He answered, expecting to hear the most horrible news that he had ever heard in his life.
“Let me speak with you privately sir.” He got off of the floor and walked up to the doctor.
“We’re all family. Whatever you can say to me, you can say to all of us.”
The doctor adjusted his glasses and flipped a couple of pages through the notes on his clipboard.
“Okay well.... She lost a lot of blood. The impact of the buckshots threw her body into immediate shock, which in turn, caused her to faint. After passing out, the blood loss was so severe that it caused her to flat line. Twice. Both times we were able to bring her back, but she’s in a vegetative state. She’s being kept alive via life support. I advise you to pull the plug-”
“What! Why are you out here telling me to pull a fuckin’ plug instead of replenishing her blood. If she dies, I swear the GOD that-”
“Well, sir, Dr. Henry has already found her a match and is giving her a blood transfusion as we speak. However, if she does recover, she’ll more than likely be partially brain dead and bound to a wheelchair.”
“A wheelchair! She didn’t have any spinal injuries, what the fuck are you talking about MAN?”
Pam rubbed Malcolm’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but he jerked away and scowled at her as if she was an enemy.
“Mr. Powers, please try to relax a minute so that I can explain the situation. One of the buckshots that we removed from her neck severely injured one of her spinal nerves. It doesn’t look hopeless, but when added to the rest of her injuries, it doesn’t look promising. I’m sorry that I couldn’t deliver you any better news, but I wanted to be truthful. You understand?”
Malcolm’s shoulders slumped down. “Yes Doc.....”
“I’m also sorry that I suggested for you to pull the plug. I didn’t know if you would be able to handle the financial aspect of it. That machine is very expensive, but if you can pay, we’ll leave her on it as long as you can pay for it.”
Typical ... he thinks I can’t afford it, Malcolm thought.
“Doc, how long do you think she could stay on life support until she becomes conscious?”
The Doctor rubbed his chin briefly and his forehead wrinkled as he appeared to be lost in thought.
“Well,” the doctor said, “there are different situations and results for every individual. There are some people who awaken after 2 months, or even pass away after 2 months or even less time than that. However, there are situations, though extremely rare, in which a person stays on life support in a coma for 7 or 8 years and one day ... wake up.” Malcolm pondered this for a second.
“Pam, cut this hospital a check for $2,000,000. That should cover at least two years, right Doc?”
The doctor’s eyes seemed to bulge out of his head like a cartoon characters’.
“Uh ... certainly Mr. Powers.”
The doctor looked as if he had lost his train of thought for a minute. Then his whole demeanor changed.
“Mr. Powers, I assure you that me and my staff will do everything in our ability; and use every medical procedure available to bring Ms. Brent back.”
“Thank you Doc. I appreciate it. Can she have a visitor now?”
The doctor wanted to say “no,” but realizing that he was speaking to a very rich man, he catered to his interests.
“Ummm ... sure, but just one visitor for right now ... actually ... give us another hour or two to finish up and you can visit her. Okay?”
Malcolm nodded his head at the doctor and sprawled out in one of the seats in the waiting room. Brink, unusually silent, went and sat right besides him. The doctor brung them out some pills to calm them down; and after taking the pills, they went to sleep. Pam stayed awake thinking to herself. I can take her position without any problems now. And since Kyla won’t be following Malcolm around all day and night, I should be able to finally make my move. His wife is no match for me ... besides, he don’t love that bitch anyway.
five
T
he Wolf and the Cowards had that Bentley broken down to the smallest denominator. A.S.A.P. After taking it, it had become unrecognizable
and untrackable within 35 minutes. Jelly, the man who was the owner of the North side Chop Shop, gave them $80,000 for everything at first, and the Cowards were happy. The Wolf said no. Actually, he said “hell no.” He demanded at least $100,000 for the vehicle
parts and engine. Jelly said $80,000 was his final offer. The Wolf took it. Then they showed Jelly the jewelry. He said $40,000 after inspecting the diamonds and checking to see if it was real platinum, and again, the Wolf said “no.” $80,000, the Wolf demanded.
“Fuck your jewelry!” Jelly exclaimed nonchalantly.
The Cowards were getting frustrated at The Wolf for messing up sure money by trying to be a negotiator. Desperately, Coward 1 said, “Okay, forty thousand dollars is fine. We’ll take it.”
Jelly looked directly into Cowards 1’ s eyes. “I said ... fuck your jewelry!”
Shit, Coward 2 thought to himself, Wolf just
fucked us out of forty thousand dollars by trying to be greedy. Fuck! When they left the chop shop, Wolf acknowledged that he did overstep his boundaries with Jelly. Instead of him getting his usual 50%, he decided that he would take $20,000 and let the Cowards take $30,000 a piece. They happily agreed, and all negative thoughts left the Cowards’ minds. They turned the radio up in the Dodge Neon and sang along with the music. They were all in festive moods. Wolf put on the stolen watch, Coward 2 put on the stolen chain. They were ballin’ now, Coward 1 thought to himself as he rubbed his hand across the stack of money that belonged to him.
$ $ $ $ $
Jennifer had been calling Malcolm’s cell phone for about four hours now. Every single phone call went straight to his voice mail. At first she thought that maybe he had been arrested, but after calling the jails, that concept was never confirmed. He has never done this before, Jennifer thought to herself. He’s cheating on me. That bastard! Around this time of night, Jennifer would usually be sleep, but the cocaine had other plans. She was fully energized and there was no chance of her going to bed anytime soon. She went and took a bubble bath, dried off, then took a stroll into their walk in closet. Once you walk in, there was a computer that kept inventory of every outfit available. All you had to do was type in the particular occasion, and a picture of every outfit that was either new or clean appeared on the monitor. Jennifer typed in “club, dress.” She didn’t like what she saw when she hit enter, so she typed in “club, skirt.” Jennifer hadn’t been to a club in three years, but if Malcolm was cheating, then so be it. A short, black Prada skirt appeared on the monitor; along with the section that it was located. She clicked the “Accessory” feature and a patent leather pair of black high heels appeared on the computer monitor. The heels had straps that would wrap around her leg and stop at the bottom of her thighs. Since Malcolm started fucking her, her ass had spread about four inches. She went from 34C-24-32 to 34C-24-36. Her ass was phat! At least, that’s what she heard whenever she went to the grocery store or the mall to go clothes shopping. Guys always swarmed over her and every time it happened, she always made sure that they understood the fact that she was married. She never cheated on her husband, not even once. But tonight, two could play at that game. Besides, he hadn’t gave her any dick in two months now. If you turn a woman into a freak, you must service that freak. Otherwise, it will attempt to get service elsewhere. Jennifer got dress and went to stand in front of the life-sized mirror. She turned
to the side and admired her “apple bottom” pushing out the limits of the skirt. There was a split going down the middle of the front and the middle of the back. No bra tonight. No panties. She grabbed about $500 and went to go wake Jeffrey up. Jeffrey was stunned but he did not comment. She asked him to go bring out her BMW.
“The old one?” He asked.
“The old one.” She answered.
He went to retrieve it. She went to the mirror and
started applying lip gloss and a light coat of make-up. She stuck her fingernail in her purse to dig out more cocaine. She snorted it. She felt a rush surge through her body. She felt good. She got in the car and turned the radio up loud, listening to Trina’s “The Baddest Bitch.”
$ $ $ $ $
Catfish was trying to get more information from the bartender.
“I’ll pay you $1,000 to show me where the Wolf stays.”He said.
“I don’t want your money. I’ll show you where he stays for free, and then I’ll show you where I stay.” She said.
