“Vita!” Zya yelled as her friend collapsed onto the floor. Zya went over to her dying friend and held her hand as the blood poured out of her chest.
“We have to get you to the hospital,” Zya said as she tried to apply pressure to the wound. Zya quickly pulled away from Vita, remembering that she had HIV.
Vita grabbed Zya’s hand and whispered, “No, it’s okay, Zy. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. I can’t feel anything. Zya, you are my sister, and I will always love you. Please forgive me and remember our bond. I love you,” Vita said before she stared into space and stopped breathing.
Zya ran her hand over Vita’s face to close her eyes. Zya whispered, “I love you too.”
Zya gently let Vita’s body rest on the floor, and that’s when her phone began to vibrate. She looked at the ID and recognized the number. It was Lonnie Wade.
Chapter 17
Loyalty or Supremacy
“Fuck is your problem? Why did you take off the wire?” Wade yelled as he gripped Zya’s arm firmly.
Zya looked at the detective like he was crazy, and she snatched her arm away from him. “Look, you aren’t the one sitting in a room full of killers. If I’m gon’ do this, it has to be my way! I’m not wearing a wire into those meetings. That’s like sending me into a death trap,” she stated firmly, standing toe to toe with Lonnie Wade.
“Fuck! I had them. She was getting ready to talk herself right into a conviction,” he said in a frustrated tone.
Zya put her hands on her hips and sighed deeply. “Look, I can tell you whatever you need to know about Anari and her involvement in Supreme Clientele.” She paused for a minute, hating the fact that she was getting ready to snitch on her friend and mentor.
“That won’t work. You were just a fucking waitress. I need someone who was directly involved in Supreme Clientele.”
“I am,” Zya admitted hesitantly. “I’m a member of the roundtable.”
Lonnie Wade’s face dropped in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Here he was, chasing Anari when he had a member in his presence, admitting her involvement in the most notorious drug operation America had ever seen.
“Are you going to arrest me now?” Zya asked.
Lonnie seriously thought about it, but changed his mind when he realized exactly what she could do for him.
“You know you are going to have to testify. If you can’t agree to that, I can’t agree to help you out,” Wade said as he stared down at her.
Zya closed her eyes. I’m a fucking snitch, she thought as she shook her head in dishonor.
“I know . . . I know,” she said softly, opening her eyes and revealing her pain to Lonnie Wade. “What about Snow? When will he get out?” she asked.
“You fucked up his deal when you took off that wire.”
“What!” Zya yelled. She put her hands on her face and shook her head. I knew it. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him. That wasn’t what we discussed.
“That wasn’t the deal. You said that if I got Anari—”
Zya was standing directly in his face, screaming at him. Wade grabbed her wrists just as she was getting ready to smack him. He grabbed her violently and pulled her close to him. She could smell his cologne, and she breathed heavily as she tried to free herself from his grasp.
“That wasn’t the deal,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Well, it is now. You can take it or leave it,” he replied.
“Fuck you. I’m not doing it if Snow goes to prison.”
Wade nodded his head, turned her around in one swift movement, and clamped the handcuffs around her wrists. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided . . .”
Zya turned around and stared coldly at Wade. “Okay, okay!” she shouted. Wade stared at her with a smirk on his face.
“Take off the damn cuffs!” she yelled.
“Torey Smith aka Snow is a done deal. You do what I want, or you will end up just like him, behind a cage.”
She lowered her head to the ground and nodded in defeat. He spun her around and took off the handcuffs.
“What do I have to do?”
“Tell me all the security codes to the restaurant. You are going to lead me directly to Supreme Clientele and Anari Simpson. I’m going to arrest her in the middle of the meeting.”
Zya walked into the restaurant, and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Calm down. You’re not wearing a wire, so there’s nothing for them to find, she thought. She walked down the hallway, and it felt like she was taking the walk of death.
There was an eerie feeling in the restaurant, and Zya began to have second thoughts about what she was doing. She stopped before entering the room and tried to gain some type of composure. Her mind was all over the place, and she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. She reached for the handle and slowly opened the door. She gasped when she stepped inside. The meeting room looked completely different. Everything had been removed from it.
Where’s all the charts . . . the documents . . . where are the guns and the safe? What the hell is going on? Anari was the only member that sat in the room, and she sat back at the head of the table with a drink in her hands. Her stare was deadly, and Zya knew that something was wrong. The room had been stripped, and the other members who were supposed to be present were not there.
It’s as if Supreme Clientele never existed, Zya thought as she stood perfectly still, waiting for Anari to speak.
“Where is everyone?” Zya finally managed to say.
“We wouldn’t want them to be a part of what is about to go down,” Anari replied. “Sit down. Have a drink with me before I go to jail,” Anari stated as she motioned for Zya to sit across from her. Zya’s mouth dropped in astonishment.
She knows. She already knows about the set-up. Zya sat down reluctantly, at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say to Anari, but she could see the look of pain mixed with anger in her face.
“Remember when I told you that this day would come? I told you that you would have to make a choice.”
Zya took a deep breath. The fear in her heart slowly left as she realized that she was just as important as the woman who sat across from her. It finally hit her. She was a part of the same notorious organization as Anari. She held just as much power.
Her mind flashed back to the pictures of the people that Anari had double-crossed. Fuck that. All of her other friends ended up dead. She would do the same to me if she was in my position.
“You told me that I would have to choose between loyalty and supremacy. I’m following in your footsteps. I’m choosing supremacy,” Zya said as she poured herself a drink.
Anari laughed and replied, “I didn’t know that there was supremacy in snitching.”
Zya didn’t reply. She just shook her head. Although she no longer feared Anari, she did feel guilty about what she was doing. Anari had been a good friend to Zya. She had given her something that she would not have been able to get on her own: the world.
“We were friends,” Anari stated. It had been a long time since Anari had befriended anyone. Her life had been one of business interactions only. Zya had been the first person to get close to her since best friend, Tanya, had died. She was hurt by Zya’s betrayal.
“We were friends, but you predicted this, Anari. There isn’t enough room in this game for both of us. I don’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice. I’m doing what I have to do.”
Anari nodded her head and replied, “Then do what you have to do. Let him in.”
Zya looked toward the door and knew that Wade was approaching. She stood up and walked slowly to the door. She could hear the footsteps coming near, and when she looked back at Anari, a tear slipped from her eye. They had been good friends, and Zya knew that she was personally responsible for Anari’s downfall.
Zya opened the door, and a team of SWAT
agents stormed the room with their weapons drawn and aimed at Anari. Suit after suit filled the room, until there was no room left. Fifty agents came in full force for one person . . . one woman . . . Anari Simpson.
Anari stayed seated, with a calm but heated expression on her face. She crossed her legs and continued to sip her drink as she looked around at all the guns pointed in her direction.
She is fearless, Zya thought as she watched Lonnie Wade approach Anari with a piece of paper in his hand.
“Search the premises. Tear this place up until you find something,” he ordered. He grabbed Anari up out of her seat and placed the handcuffs on her. He read her rights as he maneuvered her through the busy room. She stopped walking when she reached Zya.
“I trusted you,” she said. “You could have been great.”
Zya dropped her head, and Lonnie guided Anari out of the room. Agent Bryson Matthews aka Buggy walked up and grabbed Zya gently by her elbow. “Let’s go. Wade wants you at the station,” he said.
Zya knew that Wade wanted to keep her close so that she wouldn’t skip town to avoid testifying against Anari. Zya knew what she was about to get herself into. She was about to face off against the most powerful woman in the country, and she hoped that she could handle it.
It’s all or nothing. It’s her or me.
Chapter 18
Queen of New York
“This is Lisa Stewart, reporting live from the Foley Square Federal Courthouse, where the notorious Anari Simpson’s trial is taking place. Ms. Simpson stands accused of running Supreme Clientele, a roundtable that consists of some of the most wanted drug lords in the United States.
“Although the rest of the roundtable members are unknown, Zya Miller, one of the roundtable’s elite, is the key witness in the prosecution’s case. She is speculated to be responsible for more than six percent of the cocaine imported into the United States.
“This may be the biggest drug trial since the infamous D.C. trial of Rayful Edmonds. The court marshals have been ordered to stand armed in front of the courthouse, and the federal government has provided a bulletproof glass for the jurors to sit behind. These precautions prove that Anari Simpson really is a woman to be feared.”
Lonnie Wade approached the courthouse, and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw how many people were congregated outside. There were thousands of people chanting and supporting Anari, and news reporters and cameras were scattered everywhere. They were calling this the trial of the century, and everybody wanted to be a part of it. Anari’s case was the type that detectives, lawyers, and judges hoped their entire lives to receive. If convicted, her case was sure to boost everybody’s career. Wade maneuvered his way through the crowd.
“Detective Wade . . . Detective Lonnie Wade!”
He turned around to see who was calling his name, and a microphone was shoved in his face. “Lisa Stewart with the New York Post. What do you think will be the outcome of this trial? As the arresting officer in the case, how much evidence do you actually have on Ms. Simpson?”
“No comment,” Wade declared as he pushed the mic from his face and continued to make his way through the crowd. There was no way he was willing to make any type of statement. He didn’t want to jeopardize the case by saying the wrong thing, so he kept his mouth shut. Wade walked through the crowded halls of the courthouse.
“Hey, Wade, have you seen the paper?” Agent Matthews aka Buggy asked as he approached him. He handed him a newspaper. Wade opened it up and read:
ANARI SIMPSON VS. ZYA MILLER: WHO IS THE QUEEN OF N.Y.?
“Keep flipping,” Agent Matthews stated with amusement in his voice. Lonnie turned the page and saw headline after headline chronicling Anari’s trial.
THE QUEEN BEE: A TIMELINE OF ANARI SIMPSON’S DRUG CAREER
IS THIS THE END OF THE BEAUTIFUL QUEEN PEN?
Lonnie Wade threw the paper to the ground and stomped toward the courtroom with Matthews by his side.
“That shit is going to sway the jury. They are making this seem like a fight for the title between Zya and Anari,” Wade said as he entered the courtroom.
There was chatter in the courthouse, and everybody seemed to be whispering facts and falsehoods about the case. Every seat in the room was taken. People were bunched up on the wooden seats, just to get a peek at the woman who had reigned in the streets. This was the first time that people had been able to put a face to the name. Anari had been known as Tony throughout her reign, and everyone in the room was shocked to finally know the truth: Tony is a woman.
Anari sat next to Anderson Wallace and smiled for the cameras. She figured if she was going to be seen, she might as well be looking good. She wore a white, tailor-fitted, Ferragamo pantsuit. The diamonds that cluttered her ears, wrists, and neckline made her appear to sparkle for her new audience. She was more like a celebrity than a queen pen, and no one wanted to believe that the glamorous woman who sat before them was a cold-hearted killer.
Lonnie Wade was disgusted by how comfortable Anari looked as she sat in her seat and talked quietly with her lawyer. This bitch is sitting up there like she’s not on trial for her life, he thought.
Anari turned around and met eyes with the detective. They stared each other down, but Anari ended the staring contest by turning away. In the first pew behind the defense section sat a row full of people. The rest of Supreme Clientele was scattered throughout the courtroom.
Everybody was at her trial. It was more like a red carpet event than a court case. Famous rappers and singers walked through the doors left and right. Hip Hop’s finest were in attendance, and they had all come to support Anari and show her love throughout her case. The newspapers had been calling the trial a star-studded event and the place to be. Today was by far the most eventful day, because it was the day that Zya was supposed to take the stand. The reporters were having a field day.
It had been three months since Anari’s arrest, and the world had waited patiently for her to be tried. Her face had been plastered on every news station in the world, and her story had been told and retold a thousand times. The novel Dirty Money, which was based on Anari’s life, flew off the shelves and became a street classic. The media played on Anari’s friendship with Zya, and had people picking sides on which woman they supported.
The other members of Supreme Clientele were safe and sound. Neither Zya nor Anari ever mentioned their names. All the media knew was that Zya and Anari had once been good friends and made money together through their drug empire. Now Zya and Anari were adversaries, each one fighting to stay on top. The streets called Zya a snitch, and she knew that she would have to leave the country right after the trial was over. Her face was national news, and anywhere she went, people would know what she had done.
After today, I won’t be able to go anywhere without people knowing who I am. Lonnie might as well have burned an S in my forehead, because everybody is gonna know that I ratted Anari out, Zya thought as she waited in the prosecutor’s office, tapping her foot nervously against the ground. Her heart was heavy, and over the past couple of months, she had been sick from stress. She had lost almost everybody in her life that she cared about.
It turned out that Jules hadn’t even done anything wrong. She had turned her back on him because of a misunderstanding, and the guilt from that chewed at her every day. Vita was dead and had suffered miserably from her drug addiction. I was so busy hustling that I wasn’t there for her. I should have helped her.
Snow was locked up for the rest of his life. She had visited him frequently, and her heart broke every time she saw him behind the glass. She was in love with him, but the fact that she would never be able to see him free again haunted her.
Now she was getting ready to send the only person she had left to prison. Anari had given Zya her friendship, and in return, Zya was giving her betrayal. Zya touched her stomach and thought about the baby that she was carrying. She was three months pregnant with Snow’s seed, and it was the only piece of sanity she had left.
>
“You ready?” Lonnie Wade asked as he entered the room.
Zya nodded her head and whispered, “Yes.”
Lonnie looked at Zya and could see the fatigue and worry in her face. It was the first time he thought about how the trial was affecting her. As she got up to walk by him, he grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving the room.
“Zya, thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Don’t thank me. If you didn’t have a murder over my head, I wouldn’t have helped you do shit,” she responded coldly.
Wade laughed and replied, “You still have some sort of allegiance to Anari. She is a murderer, so do yourself a favor. Don’t feel too bad.”
Zya frowned and replied, “You keep calling her a murderer, but she is on trial for a drug charge. Tell me. What do you have against her?”
Wade didn’t reply. He didn’t want to reveal his personal reasons for wanting Anari. He changed the subject and said, “Let’s go.” He grabbed Zya’s arm and led the way to the courtroom.
“The prosecution would like to call Zya Miller to the stand.” The doors to the courtroom opened, and Zya stood there as lights flashed in her face. Chatter and whispers erupted as everyone in the place turned to stare at Zya as she walked in. Her Manolo Blahniks clicked on the floor as she walked up the aisle, and her black Gucci dress suit complemented her slightly pregnant figure. Her hair was neatly pulled back in a bun, and she wore pearls to accessorize.
“Get a picture of her outfit. We’ll run hers next to Anari’s to see who was best dressed,” instructed a reporter.
Wade shook his head in disgust and watched as every head in the courtroom looked back and forth between Zya and Anari. Both women were strikingly beautiful, and they looked liked they should be on a runway rather than going against one another in a court of law.
The bailiff approached Zya and she lifted her right hand. “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do,” she agreed.
Supreme Clientele Page 26
