The officers knew there was nothing that could satisfy the crowd and began shaking their heads until Cleveland stood up.
“Hold on! Hold on, people! He’s right; it can be done.”
The mob suddenly turned silent as they stared at their neighbor.
Cleveland looked around at all of their faces and explained, “I’m the superintendent for 141, and we had a big drug problem in our building no more than two weeks ago.”
He turned toward Jessica and touched her shoulder. “That was, until this young lady right here said she had enough and stood up to them dealers and told them they wasn’t selling no drugs in that building no more.”
It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop as Cleveland continued to explain. “That next day, we organized with the rest of the building’s tenants and we changed all the locks so nobody who didn’t live there could get in, put brighter lights in the building, and set up ’round the clock shifts at night to let the dealers see our presence.” Cleveland exhaled. “It took us only three days. Three days,” he repeated, “to let them crack addicts and dealers know that we didn’t want them there anymore.”
The officers began to nod their approval.
“See?” said Detective Harris. “It just takes one person to make a difference. Think about the difference you can make if you had ten such persons like her. Twenty or fifty?”
Everyone began nodding.
“Now, if you organize a block patrol and association, we will work hand in hand with regular patrol to make it really happen. And, ladies and gentlemen, if we work together, I can assure you that you will have you homes and your neighborhood back to the way it used to be, maybe even better. So if you’re ready to take that step, all you have to do now is pick a leader.”
Everyone remained silent and shifted their eyes from one face to another until Cleveland offered, “I nominate Jessica Jones to be our leader and organizer of 142nd Street Tenants Block Association!”
Another person agreed. “I second.”
And another person finalized it by saying, “I third that.”
Jessica was a little stunned she’d received many pats on her back, but remained poised nonetheless.
Chapter 15
Jessica and Cleveland delved into organizing the block association with fury. They started with the worst buildings on the block and basically commandeered the building with their presence and held a sit-in to make their presence known. Every person who entered the building was asked to sign in and wait for the tenant to come down and escort them to their apartment. All broken locks were fixed and the roof and stairwell was patrolled regularly. Many minor incidents had arisen, like dealers being denied entrance to the building or someone being threatened, but they quickly followed the rules of order by Detective Harris and called the police.
Within one month time of starting the block association tenant patrol, nearly half the buildings were now free of dealing and drugs. This was also about the time that the news media took notice and did a piece on the organized tenant patrol and ran a feature story on Jessica. In addition to making the local news, Jessica and the entire association made the Daily News. Jessica finally made her fifteen minute of fame in the process. She wasn’t used to all the attention and stayed humble throughout her many interviews and had Cleveland, a former Vietnam Veteran, right beside her.
**********
It was a warm summer afternoon, and Jessica had just come from midtown Manhattan from meeting with her parole officer, who was very happy that she was doing so well and had found employment by working at Chubby’s bar. He told her that if she continued showing progress he would recommend early termination from the conditions of parole.
As soon as she walked in the neighborhood she was greeted by nearly everyone she passed, when suddenly she ran into a person who she hadn’t seen in years. She nearly lost her breath when she saw him and stopped in her tracks, unsure whether to walk up to him and hug him or run away in the other direction. Jessica gathered her bearings and proceeded toward him.
Face to face now, Kenny smiled and said excitedly, “Hi, Jessica.”
She returned the smile. “Hey, Kenny.”
There was a momentary pause as they both stood in silence, unsure what to do next. Kenny finally wrapped his arms around her until she slowly embraced him back. They pulled apart and both were unsure what to do or say next.
Kenny looked around and finally asked, “Do you want to go somewhere and get something to eat and talk?”
Jessica eyed the ground and looked up and nodded. “Yes, I’d like to get something to eat.”
He smiled and said, “Great. I’m parked right across the street.” He led her to his black Jaguar and opened the door for her to get in.
Kenny drove off and took Jessica all the way downtown to the South Street Seaport to have some fine seafood cuisine. While they waited for their food, they made short talk and caught up on things. Kenny told her how surprised he was when he saw her in the papers and on the news and waited all day just to see her. During dinner Kenny explained to her what he’d been doing with himself over the years.
“So, you look like you been taking good care of yourself. What is it that you do?”
He wiped his mouth and placed his napkin on the table. “What did I tell you I wanted to do the first day we met?”
Jessica curled her lip and thought back for a second and smiled. “You said you wanted to get into real estate.”
He smiled and said, “You got a good memory. I’m a real estate broker, slash developer.”
Jessica’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yes, really, I own several properties in Harlem, mostly brownstones and multiple units and a couple of buildings in the Bronx.”
“Oh, Kenny, I’m so happy for you. You really set out and did what you said you would do.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Thanks, but most of the buildings are abandoned, and I picked them up cheap from the city, but I’m just sitting on them for now and looking for some investors because Harlem is going to be booming one day, and when it is, I’ll make a good return on my money.”
Jessica smiled and asked, “You think so? Because the way it’s going now everybody is moving out of Harlem with the drug epidemic and all.”
Kenny agreed by nodding. “I know what you mean. I own a large multi-unit complex and the drug dealers have taken over the entire building, turning it into a mess. None of the tenants, the ones who are still left, are not paying me any rent, so it’s costing me a fortune in taxes and mortgage just to maintain it. I just wish I knew a way of getting them out.”
“Why don’t you just sell it?”
He shook his head and frowned. “Like you said, the drug epidemic has taken its toll on Harlem, and everyone is moving out, so if I do sell it I would take a huge loss. Nobody wants to invest in Harlem yet, so all I can do is hold on to it until I figure something out.” Kenny seemed to grow angrier the more he talked about it. He quickly changed the subject. “Enough about me and my problems, so what are you doing now?”
“Well, as you saw in the papers, I pretty much have my hands full with this block association thing, and we’re just trying to make the community a better place for us to live.”
Kenny smiled at her. “You know when I read the story on you it made me proud. I mean, it takes a lot of guts, even for a man, to stand up against these young kids today.”
She nodded.
“How’s your parents? They still live on 137th street?”
Jessica fiddled with her napkin. “My father died when I was in prison, and me and my mother live on 142nd Street now.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Jessica. I didn’t know.”
She waved him off. “You had no way of knowing. He was so heartbroken after I got arrested,; I guess he lost the will to live. Me and my father were so close, I only could imagine what was going through his head with me being in there.” She exhaled. “I never forgot the look on his face when they led
me out of the courtroom the day we got convicted.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I just can’t get that look out of my mind.”
Kenny tried to spare her the pain by telling her she didn’t have to discuss it any further, but she waved him off and said, “No, it’s ok, I’ve made my peace with God about it.” Jessica chuckled and continued. “We even lost the house after my mother couldn’t keep up with the second mortgage for paying my lawyer’s fee.”
Kenny shook his head and frowned. “Y’all lost the house?”
Jessica nodded her head and said, “Yep. I was in that house since I was two years old, and just like that we lost everything.”
Kenny inhaled deeply and tried to change the subject, “So, how is your younger brother? What’s his name, Jordan, right?”
Jessica went silent again and said sadly, “He’s out there smoking crack too.”
“Oh, no!” said Kenny, genuinely upset.
Jessica stuck out her bottom lip and said, “Yep, my baby brother is a crack head.”
Kenny put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling.
“That was the reason I started what I did, because that shit took my little brother from me.”
They chatted and reminisced for the next two hours. When Kenny finally dropped Jessica off in front of her building, they promised each other that they would go out again the following weekend. As they stood in front of her building, Kenny held her hand as he walked her up the steps and said their goodbyes.
“So, I’ll see you this Friday?”
Jessica nodded and repeated, “Yes, I’ll see you Friday.”
She put her key in the front door and was about to walk in when Kenny said, “Jessica?”
She turned around instantly and said, “Yes, Kenny?”
He walked directly up to her and slowly kissed her goodnight. They pulled away and stared into each other eyes and Kenny said, “I missed you, Jessica. I always did.”
“I missed you too, Kenny, very much.”
Kenny nodded slowly. “Friday?”
She nodded and repeated, “Friday.”
Chapter 16
For the first time since Jessica had gotten out of prison, all was going so well for her. She and Kenny began dating and seeing each other on a regular basis and began rekindling the magic that they once had. Jessica told Kenny some of the things that happened since they departed, including about Officer Clooney and Officer Landry, and bits and pieces on how they had to handle the Mama situation. Kenny never flinched as she told him. He said he would have probably done the same thing if his life was on the line. Things couldn’t have been better until one day, thing began to suddenly fall apart.
It was a bright and sunny afternoon when Jessica and her mother were on their way to the supermarket to do some weekly shopping. Since Jessica received the money from Vonda and was working at the bar, she was contributing to the household bills with her mother. As soon as they were about to enter the supermarket, she heard someone behind them call Jessica’s name.
“Jessica Jones.”
They turned and saw three grim looking men behind them, one smiling and two with frowns on their faces.
Suspicious, Jessica answered, “I don’t think I know you.”
The short one, the one who was smiling said, “Well, we know you.”
Jessica saw where this was going and decided not to get into jail mode since her mother was present. “Listen, me and my mother are busy right now. I have to talk to you another time.” She grabbed her mother by the hand to escort her into the supermarket.
“It’s about your brother, Jordan.”
Jessica stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him. She turned to her mother and said, “Mama, go inside. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”
Ms. Jones shook her head and said, “No, Jessica, you don’t know these people. You don’t know what this is about.”
“Ma, I’m just going to see what they want with Jordan. I’ll be only a minute. Go ahead inside. I’ll only be a minute, I promise you.”
Ms. Jones looked at the men and then back to her daughter and walked slowly into the supermarket looking behind her all the while.
When she was sure her mother was inside, Jessica looked at the men and approached them with her arms folded. Standing in front of them now, Jessica asked, “So where you know me from?”
The shorter man jokingly said, “I don’t know, was it the papers or was it the news? I forget.”
Jessica was unmoved. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “So, what do you want to talk to me about?”
The man stepped closer and said, “Like I said, I want to talk to you about your brother, Jordan.”
Jessica was growing irritated and growled, “Well talk!”
The man was much shorter then Jessica, but his large afro made him look taller. He wore big, thick jewelry around his neck and over-sized rings on his fingers. He looked like a typical Harlem drug dealer, Jessica thought.
“No need to get hostile, baby.” He smiled, revealing his gold teeth.
“I’m not your baby, so save the bullshit and tell me what you want, li’l man!”
The comment wiped the smile off his face and he snared, “All right, bitch, you want it raw? My boss ain’t too fuckin’ happy about your li’l protest that you doing, and that shit is gonna stop or else!” He paused to see if he hit a nerve, but Jessica showed no emotion. “Now we coming back on the block to do our business, and if any of them old motherfuckers get in the way we gonna drop ’em just like that. So go back and tell them that shit, ’cause we know where all y’all motherfuckers live. When we come, we gonna blow your fuckin’ doors down and kill their whole fuckin’ family. And the first person we coming after is you, your crackhead brother, and that bitch of a mother—”
Before the man could finish, Jessica unleashed a brutal elbow to the man’s face and he went down in an instant. Jessica was fuming as she stood over the man and spewed, “If you even think about touching anybody in my family it will be the last time you breathe, bastard!”
The man held his now broken nose and looked up at Jessica and couldn’t believe she had snuffed him. He quickly regained his balance and reached behind him in his waistband to pull out his weapon. But Jessica was quicker, and she pulled out the 25 automatic that Chubby gave her and aimed to kill.
The two men with him subdued him and warned, “Not, here man, not here.”
Li’l man was in a psychotic stupor as he struggled to be released. A crowd began to gawk as they watched the tall girl aim a gun at the three men in broad daylight.
“Let that nigga go so he could squeeze that shit!” Jessica warned through gritted teeth.
The short man calmed down long enough to make a reasonable decision and realized that now wasn’t the time. He wiped the blood from his nose and looked down the barrel of her gun and then at Jessica.
He smiled and shook head. “Aight, aight, you got this one, bitch, but it won’t be another one, I can promise you that shit.” He wiped his nose again and looked at the blood on his hand. “When you lay in your bed tonight I want you to think about your crack smoking brother. I don’t know where he’s at yet, but like all dirty crackheads he gonna eventually come out at night like a vampire to search for his next hit, and I’m gonna be right there to serve him.”
He looked at her one final time and said calmly, “I want you to ask around about my boss. His name is Bosco. I’m giving you three days, and if you still trying be Superman, I’m gonna be right there to bring your ass down to earth. Believe that shit!”
When they finally walked away, Jessica put down the weapon and breathed for the first time.
**********
Jessica didn’t tell her mother what the boys had wanted that day only because she didn’t want to worry her. Instead, she told her not to worry because they only wanted to know where Jordan was because he owed them some money. But in her heart, Jessica knew she would have to tell her eventual
ly.
She decided to wait until she found out more about this dude named Bosco before she knew for sure what to do about the situation. She asked Cleveland to check around the neighborhood and find out about him just in case they were just some punks trying to scare her, though she doubted it. Jessica was preparing to go to bed when she heard a light knock on the door. Not taking any chances, she grabbed the weapon from her purse and crept toward the door silently and peeked out the peephole. She saw that it was Cleveland and stuck the gun in her robe and opened up the door.
Sensing that he had some bad news by the expression on his face she quickly asked, “What’s wrong Cleveland?”
“Sorry for coming so late Jessica, but I couldn’t wait till the morning to tell you.”
Jessica placed one finger over her lips, signaling him to speak a little quieter. She looked behind her to see if her mother was around and stepped out in the hallway so they could talk.
He shook his head before he began to speak, “Jessica, I searched around neighborhood like you told me to do and asked around about your guy Bosco.” He eyed the floor and then looked at Jessica with what appeared to be fear in his eyes. “From what I heard, this guy is bad news. He’s one of the biggest dope peddlers on this side of Harlem, and he’s Jamaican and got a strong posse.” He paused briefly until he told her the real bad news. “He is also known to be very violent—a killer—and has the record to prove it. He is also known to kill off other drug rivals that try to deal in his spots. The word on the street is that he had several drug spots right here in this block and that he is pissed that he is no longer making money off of them and will be coming back real soon to reclaim them.”
He stared at Jessica and admitted, “We got another problem.”
Jessica could tell that Cleveland was clearly shaken because he closed his eyes and his body grew rigid.
He raised his head. “The same thing happened to you happened to some other people from the neighborhood on tenant patrol.”
“Oh, my God, they went to the tenants, too?” asked Jessica.
Cleveland nodded. “And they immediately left their posts and ran to the safety of their homes.”
Harlem Girl Lost 2 Page 14
