Against the Grain

by Freeze

  An hour later, Kay got a call on his celly. He got up and walked out. Just as quick as he left, he returned.

  “Yo, Dre, Duke, let me holla at you for a minute.” When they came out into the kitchen, Kay told them that he needed them to ride somewhere with him. They both agreed and without asking any questions they left in Big Duke’s truck. When they got to D.C. Live, the hottest club in the chocolate city, they parked and Kay located who he was looking for. Teresa Melvin was a short dark-skinned woman who used to be a police officer but now worked as a private investigator. She was sitting in a Toyota Echo. Kay walked up to the driver’s-side window.

  “What’s up?”

  “She’s inside with him and they’re sitting in a corner toward the back,” Teresa told him. He passed her an envelope and said, “Thank you.”

  “Just give me a call if you need me again,” she said as she drove off. Teresa had been following Shu-Shu for two weeks and now Kay’s suspicions were about to pay off.

  Shu-Shu was right where Teresa said she was. She and one of the players for the Washington Wizards were hugged up at a table in the back. On the table there was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket with two glasses. She was smoking a cigarette. He had one arm around her and he was kissing her neck and ear. Someone walked up to the table and asked him for his autograph. While he was signing a napkin for one of his fans, Shu-Shu thought she saw Big Duke standing in the crowd to her right, looking at her. Someone walked in her line of vision and when they moved, he was no longer there. She thought she was seeing things. Then she saw Dre standing in the crowd to her left, watching her. Someone walked in her line of vision and he was gone. Her eyes frantically searched the crowd. Her worst fear had come true. She looked straight ahead and saw Kay looking at her. Again, someone walked in her line of vision and when they moved, just like the others, he had vanished. She jumped up and hysterically made her way through the crowd and out the front door. By the time she got outside, she saw Big Duke’s Excursion turning the corner down the block. The basketball player made his way outside after Shu-Shu to see what was going on.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Hell no! My man just saw us,” she said as she paced back and forth.

  “Fuck ’em, you don’t have to go home, you can stay with me as long as you want,” he said, walking up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  She snatched away from him. “Are you crazy? Stupid motherfucka! He’ll kill me and you both!” He backed away when she said that. “Look, don’t call me anymore, I got to try to fix this. Where’s my fucking car?” she said as she tried to remember where she parked. She drove around for a while to get her thoughts together before she went home. She knew she had an ass-kicking coming and she had to psych herself up before going home to get it. When she drove up, she noticed that Big Duke’s truck and Dre’s car were gone. Maybe Kay wasn’t home. Maybe he packed his stuff and left her. When she walked in, she could hear Sade playing real loud. Kay was in the exercise wing of the house. He always did an intense workout when he was upset. He was doing bench presses when she walked in. She walked over to the CD player and turned it down a little then she sat on the bench across from Kay. She didn’t say anything until he’d finished his set and sat up. Tears ran down her face.

  “I’m sorry, Kay. It’s just that I’m lonely. You’re always gone and I might see you three nights out of a week if I’m lucky. Every time I tried to talk to you about it, you never had time. You used to give me all your time, now I’ve got to compete with all your other bitches.” When she said that, Kay looked right at her.

  “Oh yeah, you don’t think I’m crazy, do you? I know more than you think I know. I just didn’t say anything because I love the ground you walk on. It didn’t matter to me as long as it didn’t interfere with my time with you, but now it has and I just didn’t know what to do since you wouldn’t talk to me. I know about your white bitch and I even know about them two bitches in North Carolina that you and Mike are fucking. I know that they make trips to New York for ya’ll every month to buy a bunch of cut for the coke and dope, then drive it back to Baltimore. You and Mike even opened up a hair salon for them bitches. I know everything, trust me,” she said.

  “Listen for a minute, ShuShawn. I know I haven’t given you the quality time you deserve. And I took for granted that you would always be there. It’s just that I feel that you’re turning me into something I’m not. I’m not with all this fancy shit for real. I ain’t with the age-delaying creams, meditation, and that aromatherapy shit. You’re Eugene’s; I’m McDonald’s. You’re the Oprah Winfrey Show; I’m the Queen Latifah Show. You’re Prada, Gucci, and Chanel. I’m Sean John, Phat Farm, and FUBU. You feel me? We’re just going in two different directions. I’m not happy in this relationship anymore. I haven’t been for a long time. That shit I saw tonight gave me the strength to walk away,” he said.

  “Walk away?! Walk away?! Motherfucka, you can go out and fuck around all you want and when I make a mistake, one mistake, one time, you want to walk away?” The tears ran uncontrollably down her face.

  Kay didn’t say anything. He just turned and walked out. “Kay!” she yelled. He turned to face her.

  “He didn’t mean anything to me. I told him never to call me again. I’m sorry, baby, please don’t do this to us.”

  “You better tell that nigga to ask to be traded to Portland somewhere. Somewhere that I’ll never see him. ’Cause I swear, if I ever run into him, I’m going to kill him,” Kay said and left. He went to take a shower and go to bed.

  A few minutes later, Lil ‘C’ came in and hugged Shu-Shu, who was still crying. He wiped her tears away with the back of his right hand.

  “Stop crying, Shu. I know my dad, and he ain’t going nowhere. His pride is just hurt right now, that’s all. Give him a few days and everything will be fine.” Then he put a small black box in her hand.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “It’s a telerecorder. He bought it from Radio Shack. That’s how he found out. He was recording your phone calls,” Lil ‘C’ told her.

  “Why are you giving this to me? You know he’s going to be mad at you.”

  “It don’t matter. You’ve treated me like a son from day one. When I was growing up, my father was nowhere around to give any aid in raising me, that right there should tell you how much of a role model I had. My mother, a good woman, had boyfriends, but none of them could actually teach me to be a man because they were too busy trying to run in and out of her bedroom. When situations like this go down, I tend to take the woman’s side. That’s the way my moms raised me.” He kissed her and left. Shu-Shu thought for a moment then she went to take a shower and to talk to her man. She wasn’t letting him get away that easily.

  23

  The next day Kay was leaving the club in his CL500 with Big Duke and his cousins behind him in the Excursion. He got about two blocks when he saw the same young woman he saw about a month ago on Pennsylvania Avenue who he thought he knew from somewhere. He whipped the car to the curb and rolled down the window.

  “What’s up, shorty? You need a ride?”

  She bent down and looked in the car. When she saw who it was, she smiled and got in.

  “Now I know this is going to sound crazy and shit, but, shorty, I know you from somewhere,” he said as he pulled away from the curb.

  “Look at me real good, Arkadian Frost. You don’t know who I am?” the young woman said as she put her seat belt on. Kay gave her a quick look, because she called him by his real name.

  “Where I know you from, shorty, and how you know my name? You police or something?”

  She reached inside her coat and pulled out a gold chain with a cross on it from around her neck. “Little Janita?” She smiled and nodded her head.

  “Oh shit, what’s up, shorty? I’ve been asking about you and your sister. I heard ya’ll were doing good.”

  “Well, when you got locked up, my sister was hurt. Especially when she couldn’t
go visit you because of your girlfriend. She figured that you went through a lot of trouble to help us out, so she wasn’t going to let it all be for nothing. She finished cosmetology school and got a good job. Then saved up enough money to get me started at the University of Maryland. She met a doctor, got married, moved down south and had two kids. She and her husband paid for me to finish school.” Janita handed Kay a picture from her bag. Tia still looked good and the kids were cute, too, but the nigga was a little square, Kay thought.

  “As for me, I finished school and got a job as a reporter at the Baltimore Sun. Right now I’m doing small stuff like the entertainment section. I interview different celebrities and report about different shows and events in the city. I’m just waiting for my big break. One major story and I can blow up.”

  “I’ve been out for a minute, Janita, why haven’t you reached out to me?” he asked her.

  “I wanted to so many times, if for nothing more than to say thank you for turning my life around. ’Cause if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I ask Lady about you at least twice a week. I just ask her not to tell you, because I know what you’re into right now and I can’t risk getting caught up in it. I’ve been working so hard to reach my goal. Plus I’ve got a jealous boyfriend that I’ve been with for a few years and it’s kinda serious.” They talked all the way to Janita’s house. When they stopped, there were a few guys sitting on the stoop. The guys looked at the Mercedes and the Excursion.

  “Who dat?” Kay asked.

  “That’s my boyfriend with the dreads and his friends.” Janita opened the door and turned to Kay. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t worry about it, shorty—anytime.”

  “No, I’m not talking about the ride home. Thank you for everything.” She got out and shut the door.

  Her boyfriend got up and walked toward her. Kay looked at him through the tinted windows. He looked like a prep, a college boy. Like he was a white boy trying to be black. He had on a button-down shirt and tie and faded jeans with a leather jacket. He must have been embarrassed by Janita getting out of Kay’s car in front of his friends because he slapped her and yelled, “Who the fuck is that nigger?” sounding like he was white.

  Janita stumbled and fell. She couldn’t believe he’d just done that. Kay jumped out the car with the quickness. The dread’s friends got up then. The dread looked at Kay.

  “What’s up, you want some?” he asked Kay. Kay walked around the car to help Janita up. Big Duke and his cousins got out the truck.

  “Just give me my key and leave, Lavern. I don’t ever want to see you again. Your boys can pick up your shit,” she said. Kay helped her up.

  “I ain’t going no fucking where!” Lavern yelled.

  “Yo, man, why you acting like that? I’ma childhood friend of her and Tia’s. I gave her a ride home and she was just telling me how she loves you and you go and do some dumb shit,” Kay said calmly.

  “Shut the fuck up, nigger. Ain’t nobody talking to you. I don’t give a fuck who you are.” It was obvious to everyone but him and his friends that he didn’t know who he was talking to. Kay looked at Janita, who just backed out the way. Kay looked at Lavern.

  “Okay, dread, let’s get down. Since you like hitting women, I’ma see what your fight game is like.”

  Kay took off his coat and jewels and sat them on the trunk of his car. The dread took off his coat and they squared off. Lavern’s friends, Big Duke, and his cousins made a semicircle. The dread tried to kick Kay, lost his balance, and fell. Kay kicked him in the face and stomped him out. He grabbed Kay’s legs and tried to wrestle him to the ground. Kay snatched out a handful of his dreads and gave him a knee to the face, knocking him out. Then Chris, one of Big Duke’s cousins, knocked down one of Lavern’s friends. Chris was tired of just riding around. He was ready to put in some work. Plus he wanted to impress Kay. The friend jumped up and the three of them ran, leaving Lavern stretched out on the cold ground.

  Janita watched it all in amazement. After all these years, Kay was still protecting her. She knew right then that she still loved him. Kay went in the dread’s pockets and got the apartment keys, giving them to Janita. Kay and his crew went inside and helped her throw Lavern’s shit out on the sidewalk. He got himself together, put his shit in his car, and left.

  24

  Later that night Tank paid Kahdijah to lure Scatter somewhere alone. Now he had Scatter handcuffed to a chair in the basement of an abandoned house.

  “Yeah, old man, I knew I would catch you slippin’. Shit ain’t funny now, is it? You broke my fuckin’ finger. I’ma teach you about putting your hands on me, motherfucka. You see this syringe? It’s full of that shit you like. Pure heroin, but this time it’s laced with battery acid. I’m going to turn you back into a dope fiend one more time before you die. I’ve been laying on you for a while, old man. I’m too smart for you. When you go to bed, I’m still up. And when you wake up, I’ve been up. Tell all them bastards in hell that I said that!”

  “Look, Tank, you didn’t say anything about killin’ nobody. I’m getting ready to go, just give me my hundred dollars,” Kahdijah said.

  Tank looked at one of his bodyguards; the man grabbed her by the hair and put his hand over her mouth.

  “You ain’t going nowhere, bitch!” Tank yelled. He walked over and grabbed her arm and rolled up her coat sleeve before injecting the heroin-laced battery acid into her vein. She struggled for a moment, and foam came out her mouth and what was left of her life left her body. She had a calm peaceful look on her face. Tank laughed aloud and said, “No witnesses.” Then he pulled out another syringe and walked over to Scatter and got nose to nose.“Fuck you!” he hissed. “Die slow, cocksucker.” He injected Scatter and watched him die as he laughed. He ordered his bodyguards to strip both bodies and leave them there.

  The next day someone found the bodies and called Dre, Mike, and Kay. Kay was home with Shu-Shu. That’s how it be when a nigga catches his girl out there. He starts playing the crib more and sweating her and shit so it took him a little longer to get there. When he pulled up, all the fiends in the hood were standing around. He saw Dre’s, Mike’s, Tank’s, Big Duke’s, Gee’s, and Scatter’s cars parked. He jumped out and rushed inside. When he got to the basement everyone was standing around. They all stared at him but no one said anything. Then Dre stepped to him and said, “He’s gone.” Kay pushed through them and found the two naked bodies on the floor. With tears rolling down his face, he knelt down and held Scatter’s body in his arms.

  “You can’t die, Scatter. C’mon, man, get up and put your clothes on before Lady catches you. C’mon, man. Stop playing, get up. You can’t die. You’re my father. I need you to love me like a father. I know I’m a grown man, but I need you. Lil ‘C’ needs you,” he said to the lifeless body that was once his mentor and friend. Kay cried aloud for about ten minutes before anyone did anything. The whole scene was emotional. Dre walked over and put his hand on Kay’s shoulder. Kay wiped the dirt from Scatter’s face and hair. He stood up and searched the cold basement for Scatter’s clothes. They were nowhere to be found. He walked over to Kahdijah’s dead body and knelt down. He used his right hand to close her eyes. There were empty dope bags and syringes next to her body. Kay studied the scene for a minute and then stood up and faced everyone. His attention was focused on Tank. He walked past everyone without saying a word, left the abandoned house, got in his car, and went to tell Lady that Scatter was dead. That he’d been murdered.

  By the time the cops got there all of them were gone. Mike, Tank, and Gee were over at one of Mike’s freak’s house, sitting in the living room smoking weed.

  “You just couldn’t leave that shit alone, could you?” Mike scorned Tank.

  “What are you talking ’bout?” Tank asked him.

  “Don’t try to play me like I’m dumb, you stupid motherfucka!”

  Tank was shocked by Mike’s outburst but he knew to be careful not to offend Mike.

  “Do
you know why Kay looked at you like that before he left the basement? Because you made at least three obvious mistakes. First, Scatter would never disrespect Kay by getting high in the streets. Second, that bitch Kahdijah don’t shoot dope, she’s a crackhead. And the biggest mistake you made was taking the clothes. If they got naked together, where were the clothes?”

  “Yeah I hear you, but how can he say I did it?”

  “ ’Cause everybody loves Scatter except you, dumb ass.”

  “Maybe I should go talk to that nigga,” Tank said.

  Mike laughed. “Talk to him about what, stupid? You can’t unring a bell, nigga. The best thing for you to do right now is stay away from him.”

  • • •

  At Scatter’s burial, the cemetery was packed. Kay, Mama, Lil ‘C’, Kaneeka, Shu-Shu, Caleek, Tramaine, and his family all stood on one side of Lady. Janita, Tia, and her family stood on the other side of Lady. Mike, Lyniece, T-Kie, the security team, Quchelle, Gee, Sandra, Big Duke, Dre, and Mina were standing on the other side of the casket, facing them as the preacher said a few words. There were at least sixty friends and family members there as well. As the preacher finished, two gentlemen made their way through the crowd without speaking to anyone. When they got to Lady, they hugged her and apologized for being late. Then both gentlemen hugged Kay. There were lots of oohs and ahhs and whispering among the crowd.

  Tank walked up behind Mike and whispered in his ear, “Who the fuck is them niggaz?”

  Without taking his eyes off the two men, Mike said, “Bush Titanium and Brick Brown. Straight motherfucking killers. You’ve heard all the stories growing up, well, there they are in the flesh. Years ago them two niggaz terrorized Baltimore, killing everyone that didn’t see shit their way. When them niggaz got bagged and had ransoms for bails, everybody in town turn their backs on them and left them for dead. But then that fuckin’ nigga Scatter goes and pulls them. They killed the nigga that told on them and left town. They haven’t been seen since. Not until now.” Just as Mike said that, he watched Kay say something in Bush’s ear and all three men turned and looked at Tank, who was standing on the other side of the casket looking at them.