A Hustler's Promise: Some Promises Won't Be Broken

by Jackie Chanel

  “I can’t be down here all day and night. I have my little sisters living with me,” Jaicyn tried to defend herself.

  “That attitude has you in the situation that you’re in,” Blaque replied.

  Jaicyn sat down in the one of the folding chairs and sighed. She didn’t understand what the damn problem was. Everyone knew her situation.

  “You want my advice,” Blaque stated, “here it is. You need to be down here every day ready to work. If that means you have to send your sisters to stay with family for the summer then do it. You know what you need to do because you’ve spent all this time watching Rayshawn do it. You know this shit ain’t no joke. It’s not the nine to five that you’re used to. It’s worse. Roll up your sleeves and be ready to get dirty if you have to. You asked for this, Jaicyn.”

  “I know and I’m willing to do whatever.”

  Blaque smirked. He’d heard hundreds of dealers say the same thing and most of the time they didn’t mean it. Jaicyn better mean it because Rayshawn had fought hard for his position. If he lost the Park due to Jaicyn bullshitting around, there’s no telling what he’d do.

  By the time Blaque left Jaicyn had a full understanding of what everyone expected out of her. She came into the game on a hookup. She hadn’t been out there on the corner selling dope night and day like Rayshawn. She didn’t even carry her gun that often. Everything would have to change. There was too much money was on the line. Other dealers in Washington Heights were chomping at the bit, looking for a chance to take over one of the hottest pieces of drug real estate in the city. They’d start making moves soon if they truly felt that she didn’t know what she was doing.

  She was the boss and she needed to lay down the law. Rayshawn didn’t tolerate insubordination. He was hard on his crew. She just had to be harder. Plus she had Corey and Marcus at her disposal. They were loyal. They’d do exactly what she said.

  “Get these niggas in line and do it quick,” Blaque had said before he left. Jaicyn was already thinking of a plan that would finally give her the respect she deserved.

  ****

  Two days after her discussion with Blaque, Jaicyn pulled into her normal parking spot by the 100 building in the Park. Dressed in black jeans, a black tank top with the word BOSSY emblazoned in gold on the front, and brand new black Air force Ones, Jaicyn looked like a girl who wasn’t taking any shit from anyone that day.

  She’d just dropped her sisters off with Juanita. They were heading to Puerto Rico for the summer. As much as she didn’t want them to go, she didn’t have a choice. Having Rickie and Bobbie around made her feel comfortable and normal. She saw their appreciation and love for her reflected in their eyes when she hugged them. She had a recurring nightmare that someone might take her sisters away from her again. Whenever they were away, she was constantly on edge.

  She needed the edginess.

  Even though it was after ten in the morning, Pete and half of his crew still hadn’t shown up to work the courtyard. Johnny was alone. Jaicyn stomped over to him.

  “Where’s Pete?”

  “I don’t know. I ain’t heard from him.”

  Jaicyn looked around. Oak Park was waking up. Dope fiends were scrounging up money for their first hit of the day. Kids were starting to come outside. The hoochies and strippers were coming home from a long night’s work. In a way, Jaicyn was disgusted. Why would anyone want to live a life like that? She could have been in the same situation if she’d let Angelina totally destroy them. But she hadn’t. She was better than her environment. She needed to get her sisters out of Washington Heights quickly.

  “What do you need me to do?” she asked Johnny.

  He glanced at her in surprise. Jaicyn never volunteered to work, no matter what kind of work it was. She never worked the courtyard.

  “Umm,” Johnny hesitated. “I guess just work the 200 building. Anyone come up to you, take the money and send them to Cortez.”

  “I can do that.” She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. Hand to hand transactions, standing in the stairwell of the 200 building…Pete and the rest of the crew better show up real soon.

  She started towards the building and stopped when she heard Johnny call her name.

  “What?”

  “You strapped?” he called.

  “Always,” she yelled back and kept walking.

  Once she was situated in her position, Jaicyn called Corey and told him to come to the building. She put her phone in her pocket when a shifty looking man came down the steps. His eyes kept darting from the door to Jaicyn.

  “What’s up, Carl?” Jaicyn greeted him.

  “Where’s Pete?”

  “He had something to do this morning,” Jaicyn lied. “What you need?”

  “I need two.” Carl handed Jaicyn two crumpled, smelly and dirty ten dollar bills. She slid them in the pocket of her designer jeans.

  I’m going to kick Pete’s ass.

  “I’ll give you three for two if you go get Marcus for me. He’s across the street at Burger King.”

  Carl smiled revealing the need for some serious dental work. “Sure, Jay-Jay. I’ll go get him.”

  “Thanks, Carl. Cortez will take care of you.” She walked over to a small window that over looked that back of the building and held out three fingers. Cortez nodded and waited for Carl to come around.

  Ten minutes after her first ever drug transaction, Jaicyn sat on the dirty steps feeling slightly validated and laughed out loud.

  “I’m a drug dealer,” she giggled. “Un-fucking-believable.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Corey and Marcus came through the door. “What are you doing down here?”

  “Working.”

  “Where’s Pete and Lil D?”

  “If I knew, I damn sure wouldn’t be sitting on this step, would I?” Jaicyn rolled her eyes. Sometimes Corey was simply all muscle, no brains.

  “Look, I need you two to get to work. Find every single person in this crew except the lookouts and shit. Tell them to meet me down at Sandy’s tonight at ten. Make sure you emphasize that their presence is mandatory. After you do that, send Sonya or Curt over here. We need to make a trip to the west side.”

  “What’s over there?” Marcus asked.

  “You’ll see,” Jaicyn answered simply. “Go now, please. I don’t want to be here much longer.”

  In the shadowy stairwell, Marcus and Corey looked very dangerous. She never saw Marcus smile…ever. They were trained muscle and trained by the best in the business. Blaque and Slim had taught them well. Jaicyn felt safe when they were around.

  ****

  “Jay-Jay, I’m leaving,” Sandy called from the back of her restaurant. “Don’t forget to set the alarm on your way out.”

  “Sure!”

  Sandy was used to having King’s crews hold meetings in her restaurant, she just didn’t understand why her business had to be the go-to spot. King could have easily used another location. She hated having anyone in her restaurant after hours. This was the first time Jaicyn had called a meeting. If she didn’t have plans, Sandy would have stayed to check out her girl in action.

  Jaicyn surveyed the crowd. No one looked even remotely interested in the meeting. She looked at her watch. It was ten o’clock.

  “Lock the door,” Jaicyn ordered Corey which he promptly did. “No one else comes in.”

  Silently Jaicyn took note of who was present and who had decided not to show up. A few of the missing surprised her because she had seen and spoke to them earlier. She had a plan to deal with them and she had a few guests of her own as a back up.

  “Before I get started,” Jaicyn finally spoke, “I need to address the situation we seem to have.”

  “Where’s Pete?” she asked. “He couldn’t make it?”

  Johnny shrugged his shoulders but offered no explanation. He went on talking to Cortez as if she hadn’t asked him anything. He would have never done that disrespectful shit to Rayshawn or even Little Man. Jaicyn was pissed. Pete and Jo
hnny were supposed to be the last ones she should have had any problems with.

  “Corey, did you tell Pete about the meeting?” Jaicyn asked.

  “Yup.”

  “And what did he say?”

  All eyes were on Corey. The crew was anxious to see if Corey would repeat Pete’s exact words. When Pete had finally shown up for work, he was warned that Jaicyn was on the warpath and he acted like he didn’t even care. Corey’s message about the meeting went in one ear and out the other.

  “He said fuck you and your meeting. You ain’t no boss.”

  Jaicyn looked at Johnny. His lowered eyes confirmed that Corey wasn’t lying. Pete should have known better than to test her. Now was the perfect time for him and Johnny to get promoted. They’d been down with Rayshawn from the beginning. But this was business and Jaicyn could not be disrespected like that.

  “Okay,” Jaicyn nodded her head. “Corey, when that nigga steps back into the Park, fuck him up and tell him that his services are no longer necessary. He’s not allowed back on the courtyard.

  “And if I see him anywhere near the Park,” Jaicyn warned everyone, “there’s going to be hell to pay. Same goes for Sabrina.”

  “Wait a minute, Jay-Jay,” Johnny spoke up. “That’s Pete. You can’t do that to him.”

  “I can do whatever the fuck I want to do,” Jaicyn said. “The sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be.”

  “Did Rayshawn okay this?” Johnny asked.

  Jaicyn rolled her eyes. “Is Rayshawn here? Like right now, is he here?”

  No one said anything.

  “That’s what I thought. In case you haven’t noticed,” she continued, “I’m captain of this ship now. I make the decisions and we are going to do what I say do.”

  “If anybody,” she stared directly at Johnny as she spoke, “has a problem with that, then you can leave. You have been on some disrespectful shit for weeks and I’m over it. Rayshawn isn’t here. You work for me now. Bounce now if you have a problem with that.”

  Jaicyn paused and scanned the room again. Most of the boys were looking down at the tables. However, there were a few who were looking at her like they wanted to kick her ass.

  “So,” Jaicyn said, returning the hateful stares, “if you have something to say about the way I handle my business then speak up now. This is the only chance I’m giving you. After tonight, I don’t want to hear shit. No excuses, no explanations…nothing.”

  Even though the floor was open no one said anything. Jaicyn was shocked. She expected some people to buck and even walk out. She didn’t expect this. The air in Sandy’s was tense but it was quiet. All Jaicyn heard was breathing and a little snicker come from Joy and Taylor’s table.

  “Okay,” Jaicyn said. “Let’s get down to business.”

  Jaicyn introduced the new additions to the team. Joy and Taylor had decided to stay on permanently since Sabrina wasn’t coming back. Shalon and Troy Moreland were two hustlers that Jaicyn knew from the west side. She’d met up with them earlier and asked them to come work for her. They weren’t making any money on the west side since that place was dry like the Sahara since Ramel got locked up.

  “Shalon and Troy are going to be in the courtyard. Johnny, you’ll be with me.”

  “Huh?”

  Corey laughed. “You just got promoted Negro. Be happy.”

  “So that’s it,” Jaicyn concluded. “I made a few changes but I had no choice. Don’t make me do this shit again.”

  Jaicyn was spent. Every inch of stored bravado was used up as she, as Marcus joked, “laid her pimp hand down”. Still, she felt in control and slightly euphoric. Giving orders came naturally when you had two kids underneath you all day. Having a bunch of hardnosed boys and men respect her and slightly fear her…that felt good!

  The small dining room cleared out noisily like the lunch room when the bell rang. Joy, Taylor, Corey, Marcus, and Johnny stayed behind as instructed. When the last person exited the restaurant Corey locked the door and burst out laughing.

  “Wow Jay-Jay, I didn’t know you had it in you!”

  “Yeah, you had them shook,” Joy cosigned.

  Jaicyn laughed too but she was relieved. Her worst fear was that her crew would walk out and not take her seriously even though she’d never admit it to anyone. Even though Joy and Corey were impressed, the real test would be the next few days. If things actually started to run smoothly and business start to pick up again then Jaicyn could be confident that she was in control. If not, she’d move on to Plan B.

  “I just did what I had to do,” Jaicyn tried to act modest. “It’s no big deal. Let’s go out, my treat!”

  Leaving the restaurant with her hand picked crew Jaicyn felt like she ruled the world. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for and she wasn’t about to blow it.

  Chapter 26

  Jaicyn pulled her car in the parking lot by the courtyard just in time to see two of Washington Heights’s finest handcuffing Curtis and Sonya. The two teenagers were escorted to a waiting squad. She dialed Johnny’s cell number as she walked through the courtyard.

  “Johnny, find out what happened with Curt and Sonya then hit me back.”

  Jaicyn was irritated as she made her way to the new stash house. A few days ago some stick up crew from the west side had run up in the old stash house while Joy was there alone. They robbed her for a G-pack of heroine and five pounds of weed. Jaicyn was furious and couldn’t understand why Taylor and Marcus weren’t at the house. She immediately made Joy and Taylor switch up the stash house once a week. There were way too many empty apartments in the Oak Park projects for them to stay in the same place. That made it easy for stick up crews to figure out where the stash was. Although she trusted her friends, Jaicyn knew that Joy and Taylor would never take a bullet for something that they considered to be hers.

  After the stash got hit Jaicyn ordered Corey and Marcus to find out who did it and take care of it. She was not going to let anyone think that they could get away with stealing from her. Corey and Marcus enjoyed working for Jaicyn because she had a violent nature. They didn’t know where it came from. All they knew was that when shit went down, Jaicyn’s first reaction was ‘fuck ‘em up’ and they were glad to earn their pay.

  Jaicyn used her key to let herself into the stash house. Joy and Taylor were sitting at the table eating and listening to the radio. The stash house was always simple. It wasn’t hooked up like the new “office”. It didn’t have to be. The apartment served one purpose. It was where they stored, cooked, and cut dope. It didn’t have to be comfortable or glamorous.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Jaicyn greeted her friends.

  “Nothing much,” Taylor answered. “Are we still going out tonight because I need to call the babysitter?”

  “Autumn’s in town so we’re definitely going out,” Jaicyn replied.

  Her mind was really on finding out what had happened with Curtis and Sonya, not her usual Saturday night routine. She wasn’t even paying attention when Joy slid a greasy brown paper bag across the table.

  “What’s this?”

  “Lunch,” Joy said. “Blaque came through and hooked us up with El Pollo Loco and you know he brought you some. He wouldn’t forget about his girlfriend,” she teased.

  Jaicyn rolled her eyes. Not that she didn’t like the attention she got from Blaque, she just hated the teasing.

  “Whatever. You know good and well ain’t nothing up with me and Blaque. My man is in Atlanta.”

  “Well you need to tell him that,” Taylor threw her two cents in. “I think that fine black man has a thing for the Latinas.”

  “So do I,” Joy cosigned. “What’s up with that?”

  Jaicyn always tried to avoid the ‘Latina and Black men’ conversation whenever it came up. She didn’t know why some black men preferred Latino women but her homegirls thought she had all the answers. She was only half Puerto Rican!

  “I’m not about to get into that conversation now. What y’all go
t for me?” Jaicyn said, casually switching from friend to boss in a matter of seconds.

  “Not much. Slim dropped off the re-up early this morning,” Joy answered. “He’s coming back later with the weed you wanted. He said he don’t know how you think we’re going to sell all of it. I told him that’s your problem.”

  Jaicyn reached into her black leather laptop bag and pulled out the small but powerful computer and powered it on.

  “Slim’s worried about the wrong thing. I know what I’m doing.”

  Apparently she did know what she was doing. In the short amount of time she’d been running the projects, profits had increased twenty percent. Jaicyn knew how to make a buck. She knew how to sell drugs, and she took risks. She knew increasing her weekly re-up would force the crew to hustle harder if they wanted to make their numbers. For the first time Rayshawn’s crew had something that they never had before; quotas.

  Jaicyn had been studying how Rayshawn had Sabrina distribute his product to the dealers for some time and was trying to figure out a better way. She spent hours analyzing the spreadsheets she’d created until she came up with a better plan. Two months ago she came up with the idea and implemented it right away. Jaicyn gave crew a dollar amount that they were responsible for selling for that week. It meant more work on her part and she needed Joy and Taylor there more often but in the end it eliminated a bunch of people having too much cash on them and the temptation to steal.

  In a way, Jaicyn was just like her former boss, Darius. He was the CEO of a successful real estate firm with a team of quality real estate agents and Jaicyn was CEO of Oak Park Projects with her own little sales team. She even gave bonuses. Jaicyn spent just as much time building up her team and making sure that everyone was making money as Darius did. It was a different take on drug dealing but it was working. Everyone was hitting their numbers and word was getting back to King that Jaicyn was bringing in a lot of cash, like he knew she would.