The moment he walked through the door, he could hear the cries of Kim, Kevin’s sister. When he walked into the living room area, there she was, balled up on the couch crying her eyes out. Kim’s girlfriend sat beside her, trying her best to comfort her. Jonathan didn’t even know where to begin or who to begin with, because as he turned his head away from Kim, he made eye contact with Ms. Matty who was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette. Jonathan’s eyes began to water. He knew he was in trouble, because she seemed to be calm.
Ms. Matty took another pull of the Newport and then tossed it into the ashtray before waving at Jonathan. She motioned for him to come back to the kitchen with her. His feet instantly felt like cinderblocks as he slowly made his way down the short hallway that seemed like it was the length of a mile.
“Come on in here, boy,” Ms. Matty said, pulling the extra chair out from under the table.
“Hi Ms. Matty,” Jonathan said, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek, while wiping the tears from his face.
She sat there with a relaxed look. There were no signs of her crying, nor did she seem bitter about the death of Kevin, which was odd, considering that he was her only boy. “How’s Lorraine?” she asked, grabbing one of Jonathan’s hands and placing them both between hers. He wanted to snatch his hands back because it seem like her touch was pushing all of her silent pain into his body, and he felt like he would break down at any moment. He took a deep sigh and managed to get out a few words.
“She’s good, more than likely she will be over here sometime today.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s good, Jonathan,” she said with a smile. “You know babe, I wanna ask you something, and I know that you’re gonna tell me the truth because you are a good boy.” Ms. Matty continued.
Jonathan could see where this was going, and he knew that the question that the next question was about to be major. “You know, you and my son are like brothers. Right along with that A.J. who I seen sitting out in the car, and I’m guessing he can’t muster up the strength to come in here and face me.” she said, looking back outside and seeing A.J. standing at the bottom of the steps. “Y’all boys were so close. If he used the bathroom, you would pass him the toilet paper to wipe his ass and A.J. would flush the toilet.” She chuckled. The sound of her laughter didn’t match the emotion that was starting to show on her face.
Jonathan could see how she was setting up the foundation for her question. She was boxing him into a corner where anything less than the truth would sound stupid. There wouldn’t be any way possible for him not to know the answer to her question. He knew he couldn’t sit there and lie to her face about what had happened to her Kevin.
“Baby, please tell me what happened to my son?” she asked, looking Jonathan directly in his eyes.
Jonathan sat there stuck. He knew that she was building up to this question, and yet he still wasn’t prepared to answer it. This was harder than he thought it would be, and as he looked into her eyes, he could now see how A.J. felt about lying to her.
__________
When Jonathan walked out of Kevin’s house, A.J. could see that the conversation he had with the family did not go too well. As Jonathan came storming down the steps A.J. could see the stains on his face where tears once flowed. This was the first time in all of the years A.J. had known Jonathan that he saw him cry.
“Yo, what happened?” He asked, walking behind Jonathan on his way back to the car.
Jonathan didn’t answer him right away. He was still upset about what had just gone on. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life.
“Yo, what did you tell her?” A.J. asked again as he stood by the passenger side of the car.
Jonathan stood by the driver side looking over at A.J. “I told her the truth, my nigga…” he said, looking over at Kevin’s house. “She deserved to know what happened, and I know that our brother would have wanted me to tell her.” Jonathan said, before opening his door and getting in the car.
“What did she say?” A.J. asked, getting into the car behind him. “You think she is gonna go to the cops?”
“Nah, she’s not gonna go to the cops. Ms. Matty loves us too much for that. She said that we’re gonna have to live with Kevin’s death for the rest of our lives. She said that alone was going to be enough punishment for our actions.” Jonathan told A.J.
Ms. Matty was 100% right, because Jonathan was already feeling the devastating effects of Kevin’s death. He had to carry the weight of that responsibility the most, because the whole idea was his in the first place. If it wasn’t for him, Kevin would still be alive, and that was the thing that ate away at him.
__________
Charrise sat in the passenger side quiet, just listening to Brianna spaz out on the phone with who she assumed was Auntie.
“What you mean, she trying to come direct? I’m the one who brought her to you, now you telling me the bitch trying to cut a side deal?” Brianna yelled as she held her phone in her left hand and picked up Charrise’s to call Selena.
“Lena, you know your bitch, Gwen, trying to cut a side deal on us with Auntie?” Brianna asked.
“Bri, are you serious? I know she wouldn’t do something like that, especially how we looked out for her with her son situation and everything. It must be some type of misunderstanding.”
“Yeah that’s what I was thinking, but I got Auntie on the other line and that’s what she saying. What I need you to do is setup a meeting with her so we can get this shit straightened out ASAP.”
“Got it Bri, I’ll hit you back with when and where… one.”
Charrise didn’t want to admit it, but she kind of liked Gwen. She liked the boss like attitude she had, along with the way she carried herself. Granted, if she would have even thought about making a move on Brianna, Charrise wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in her head.
Brianna hung up with Auntie as she pulled into Lorraine’s driveway. Charrise had a disturbed look on her face. Brianna looked over, and by the time she realized what she had done, Charrise was already in tears. She hadn’t been to her mother’s house since the day she was kidnapped right in front of the same house. The only time she saw her mother and father was when they were somewhere else.
“Damn, I’m sorry, sis.” Brianna said, covering her face with both of her hands. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Brianna suggested.
“No, no, no, it’s cool. I think I needed this.” Charrise responded, wiping the tears from her face.
“I haven’t seen Mommy in a few days anyway,” she said, opening the door.
They knocked on the door but there wasn’t any answer. Brianna looked around for Herman’s car which wasn’t anywhere in sight. They were about to leave when Charrise remembered that she still had the keys to the house. She reached into her Michael Kors bag and retrieved them. She unlocked both locks and then opened the door.
“Mom! Dad!” Charrise yelled, entering the house.
Lorraine sat upstairs in her bedroom looking out the window at the two empty holes in the backyard. The sound of Charrise yelling her name startled her a little. She didn’t know if her ears were deceiving her, because for the past few months, Charrise had refused to step foot in the house. Lorraine began to walk out of the bedroom to go to her, but stopped when she passed by the mirror and saw that her face was still bruised pretty good from Herman’s attack.
“Mom!” Charrise yelled out again, walking up the steps.
Brianna stayed downstairs to look for Lorraine in the kitchen. Lorraine looked around the room in a panic, trying to decide whether or she should hide from Charrise, but as soon as she moved towards the closet, Charrise opened the bedroom door. Lorraine had made it to the closet and had the door open when Charrise walked in. She played it like she was looking for something.
“Mom, I know you heard me calling you. What are you doing up here?” she asked, walking up behind her mother.
When Lorraine turned around,
the smile that Charrise had on her face turned into a frown instantly. Not only were the bruises visible, but they were also fresh. The first person that came to mind was Herman.
“He put his hands on you?” Charrise asked, reaching up and lightly touching the side of her face.
Lorraine put her head down, ashamed that her daughter had to see her like this.
“Brianna!” Charrise yelled out. “Brianna, get up here!” she continued yelling.
When Brianna didn’t answer nor come up the steps, Charrise grabbed Lorraine by the arm and pulled her out of the room and down the stairs. Brianna hadn’t answered because she was stuck, staring out of the kitchen window at the two holes that Herman had dug up. She didn’t have to go outside to see that Tank’s body was missing from his grave.
“Bri, look at dis shit.” Charrise said, walking into the kitchen with Lorraine behind her. Brianna turned around from the window to see her mother’s battered face. She was furious.
“Who did dis shit to you? Was it Herman?” Brianna yelled, unable to control her anger.
Lorraine took a seat at the kitchen table and began to tell the story of how Herman was in the courtroom the day that she attended Cowboy’s trial. She even made excuses for him, saying that she didn’t have any business supporting Cowboy when she was a married woman. Brianna wasn’t trying to hear none of that. She didn’t care what the circumstances were; Herman did not have to put his hands on her mother.
“Where did he go?” Brianna asked, turning around and looking out the kitchen window at the empty grave.
“I don’t know where he went. He did whatever he did in the backyard and then left out of here,” Lorraine answered.
Charrise walked over to the window and looked out into the backyard. She didn’t have the slightest idea that Tank was buried back there, nor did she know the story behind why. It wasn’t even that important to her at the moment. All she wanted to do was find Herman and check him about hitting her mother. Brianna wanted to do the same thing in finding Herman, but just not for the same reasons. It was something more important at stake right now. If Herman knew what to do with the body he had just discovered, it could easily get ugly for Brianna and whoever else he felt like screwing around.
__________
Cowboy paced back and forth in his cell waiting for the lieutenant to come down the range. Right after the visit with Herman, Cowboy was taken straight to the hole, courtesy of Herman telling the Captain on his way out the door that Cowboy threatened to have him and his family killed. The Captain reacted swiftly by sending Cowboy to the hole for the rest of the weekend until he sorted everything out.
“C/O!” Cowboy yelled as he kicked the cell door. “C/O!” he continued, kicking the door and pushing the panic button.
The panic button was something that the guards could not ignore. It was policy that they had to check on the inmate, in case a medical emergency had occurred. The guard took his time coming down the range, seeing that it was Cowboy.
“Mr. Parsons, you better have a medical emergency,” the guard said walking up to the door.
“Yo, I told you to get the LT down here. It’s an emergency,” Cowboy yelled back, looking through the thin glass. “You said the Lt. was coming down here, and he ain’t come through yet.”
“I told you, Mr. Parsons, he is making his rounds. As a matter of fact, he is doing it as we speak,” the guard told Cowboy.
Ironically, the Lt. walked on the range just as the guard was going back to the bubble. He looked into every cell that he passed, and when he got up to Cowboy’s door, he was standing there waiting.
“Lt., why you got me in the hole? I didn’t do shit.” Cowboy said.
“You’re under the Captain’s review. Word is you should be getting out on Monday.” Lt. explained.
Monday was almost two days away, and Cowboy needed to contact Brianna now in order to warn her about Herman. Normally, Brianna would come to see Cowboy on the weekend, but when she did not come up, Cowboy had a feeling that something was wrong.
“Look Lt… I wouldn’t be asking you this if it wasn’t an emergency. I really need to call my daughter. I haven’t used the phone since I been down here. Can you please let me come out to at least make a phone call?” Cowboy pleaded in a low and respectable voice.
The Lt. looked at Cowboy and could see the concern written all over his face. Actually, a phone call was something easy the Lt. could sign off on, and in this case, he did just that.
“I will get the guard to let you out for 15 minutes when I leave off of this range. Do what you need to do and don’t cause any problems.” he said before walking off to finish making his rounds.
As promised, as soon as the Lt. walked off the range, Cowboy’s door was opened and he was allowed to come out. He tried to call Brianna’s phone, but it kept going straight to voicemail. He tried the whole 15 minutes he was out, but still got no answer. That didn’t do anything but make him more worried than he was before. Stressed out to the max, all Cowboy could do was head back to his cell and pray that God watched over his little girl.
__________
The inside of Brianna’s car was dead silent the whole ride back to her house. The sisters had convinced Lorraine to come stay with them for a while, or at least until Brianna and Charrise had the opportunity to confront Herman about the situation. Nobody knew how long that could take, since he was missing in action.
Herman couldn’t be found anywhere. They drove around and checked his favorite drinking spots, along with the local eateries he liked. Still, there was no Herman. Getting Lorraine back to her place was all Brianna could do for now. Eventually, he would surface again, and when he did, Brianna was going to do what she should have done a long time ago, which was put Herman in his final resting place.
Chapter 10
Monday morning came fast, and by noon, the call came in that the jury had reached a verdict. Court was set for 2:00pm. Lorraine declined going to the courthouse with Brianna and Charrise out of fear that Herman would be there. Instead, Selena accompanied her back to her house so she could grab a few things she needed. When they pulled up to the house, Herman’s car was in the driveway. Lorraine was a little reluctant at first to go into the house, but Selena made her feel a lot more comfortable when she reached under the driver seat and pulled a large caliber handgun out, and placed it on her lap.
“Don’t worry about anything. Just get what you need and we’re out of here.” Selena said, cocking a bullet into the chamber.
“Herman!” Lorraine called out once they entered the house. “Herman!” she yelled again, walking towards the stairs.
Herman wasn’t answering, but Selena wasn’t taking any chances. She followed Lorraine up the steps. Selena was given strict instructions from Brianna to shoot and kill Herman at any sign of aggression, and she wasn’t going to hesitate for a second, especially if he jumped out of one of those rooms like he was crazy.
“I don’t think he is here,” Lorraine said, walking into her bedroom. “He would have made himself noticed by now.”
“Alright Mrs. Lorraine, the quicker you get ya things, the quicker we can get out of here.” Selena said, looking down the hallway for any suspicious movement.
Lorraine went right to work, grabbing a trash bag from out her closet and filling it up with all the items she needed. Within ten minutes, she and Selena were loaded and heading out the door.
__________
Jonathan, A.J., and Kasy sat at the table in Jonathan’s dining room with a large mountain of money in front of them. This was the first time that any of the men had seen the proceeds from the lick. From the way that nobody really wanted to touch the blood money, it was obvious that this was a bittersweet moment.
“Yo, let’s count dis shit up.” Jonathan said, reaching over and grabbing a stack of money from the pile. “Kev’s cut goes to his family. I’ll take it over there later on.” he said.
Both Kasy and A.J. nodded their h
eads in agreement. It was only right that his money be given to his family, and Jonathan wasn’t going to see it no other way. He had really stepped up and become the heart of this crew. Even though Kasy was older and more experienced, he respected Jonathan’s leadership skills, and what he had put together.
It took over four and a half hours for them to count up the 5, 10, 20, and 100 dollar bills. There wasn’t a doubt in anybody’s mind that this was dope money. At the end, it came out to 1.2 million, broken down four ways evenly. Everybody came out with a nice 300K. The leftover change was put to the side to pay for Kevin’s funeral.
__________
Brianna pulled up to the courthouse, not knowing what was going to happen. From the evidence that was presented to the jury, one would think that a not guilty verdict was the right thing to do. However, when the majority of the jury was older, white, suburban people, anything was liable to happen.
“Everything is gonna be alright,” Charrise looked over and told Brianna after she finished parking.
Brianna had something else on her mind other than the trial. She was sitting there debating whether to tell Charrise that Herman was the one who set her up to be kidnapped. She didn’t know how her sister was going to react to it, but at the same time, it was killing Brianna not to confide in her.
“I need to talk to you about something.” Brianna said, turning to face Charrise.
“Sure, what’s going on, Bri, and why the long face?” Charrise asked.
Brianna took in a deep breath. “Please don’t be mad at me…” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, other than to just say it. Herman was involved with you being kidnapped. Hakeem paid him to have you taken in order to draw me out. I was—”
“Wait, wait, what did you just say?” Charrise asked, snapping her head back with a twisted look on her face. “I know you didn’t’ just say that my dad was responsible for me being kidnapped,” Charrise snapped.
Trapstar 3 Page 8
