“I am a woman,” said Impala quickly. “I’m just not complete, not yet.”
“And I bet this piece of shit next to you has been promising to take care of that for you,” said Renardo. “Well, he’s lying. He doesn’t want you to change. He wants that dick.”
“Get on with it,” said Paymer impatiently.
“You ain’t in no position to be giving orders, Payment,” said Renardo. “Mind yourself or it will get ugly up in here. Now, what I want is for you to stay out of my business or that picture of you and Impala here will be posted on your church’s Facebook Page and Twitter account, only we will block out Impala’s face because I can see that he/she is a nice person.”
“Too good for you, Reverend Payment,” said Kelvin resting the shotgun across one forearm but still pointed at Paymer.
“You can prey on the people of this city but men like you always get caught,” said Paymer. “God will—“
“I will have Kelvin shoot you if you dare to tell me what God’s gonna do,” said Renardo. “You laying here in a bed with a big ass hard on, next to a naked man. I think it’s safe to say that God ain’t listening to your faggot ass right now.”
“Sam Jackson cold!” said Kelvin laughing.
“You caught me at a bad time, Payment,” Renardo continued. “Everybody in my business is acting like a goddamned fool these days and they are forcing me to go back to my old ways. You are going to give me what I’ve lost on the deals you scared off. I will settle your debt for ten thousand, cash and I want it a week from now.”
Paymer mumbled something under his breath.
“Excuse me?” said Renardo. “Didn’t catch that.”
“Fine,” said Paymer.
“Also, Impala here is coming with us tonight,” said Renardo. “You give him the money ‘cause I know he ain’t doing your old ass for free. You go home to your family and think about what you've done.”
Paymer was fuming but he reached for his pants and gave Impala a wad of cash, which she held tentatively while looking at Paymer like a child.
“Go on,” said Paymer. “Go.”
“Get dressed,” said Renardo. “And Rev, if we check on Impala here and see one mark on his pretty face, we’re coming for you.”
"He's not like that," said Impala a little angry. “He don’t hit me. I’m not that thirsty.”
“My bad," said Renardo. “My bad.”
Impala got dressed in the bathroom and walked a few minutes later. Kelvin was right. Dressed up, you could not tell she was complicated.
“Have a good night, Rev,” said Renardo as he and Kelvin left the motel room with Impala.
They walked out into the parking lot, then to the rear where they had parked.
“I bet old boy is in there jacking off,” said Kelvin laughing.
Impala shivered as the air hit her. She was wearing a skirt and a waist length faux fur.
“Cold as shit out here,” she said. “Damn.”
Impala sat up front with Kelvin, while Renardo rode in the rear. Kelvin turned on the car and pumped up the heat.
“Take me to the Denny’s over on Eight Mile,” said Impala almost like an order. “And thanks for fucking up my night, niggas. Now he’s gonna want double the next time.”
“I knew that little girl thing was an act,” said Renardo. “No way a working girl like you is that soft.”
“All part of the package,” said Impala heartily. “I’m selling more than ass. A man likes to think he’s in charge, makes him like it more.”
“What you packin’ for defense?” asked Kelvin.
“Fuck with me and find out,” said Impala.
This made Renardo and Kelvin both roar with laughter.
“So, when y’all do it, does the Rev do you or do you do him?” asked Renardo. “I got to know.”
“No kiss and tell,” said Impala. “We get it in and get it done. Thanks for making him pay me. I need to get a resupply and my connection got busted. Where can a girl score some shit?”
“What kind?” asked Kelvin.
“I need weed, Oxy, Vikes,” said Impala.
“Damn, you starting a pharmacy?” said Renardo.
“My clients like it and I sell a little on the side. I like shoes,” she said.
“Well, there’s Money Mike over by Nevada and Six,” said Kelvin. “That girl Jarindah’s crew rolls by Mound and thereabouts. But I don’t like that bitch. And my man Jimmy, the Samoan.”
“Watch out for him” said Renardo. “He likes to cheat people, dirty motherfucker. Almost had to shoot his big ass once.”
“You know, you finer than my last three bitches,” said Kelvin. “When you get completed you need to check a brother out.”
Impala could not help but to laugh at this. Her voice was soft and light like a woman but there was a huskier undertone to it.
“I’ll schedule you,” said Impala. She flipped down the blinder and looked at herself in the mirror.
“Sorry,” said Renardo, “but if you get with him, you’d be doing a man. He was born one way and can’t nothing on this Earth change that.”
“But if he ain’t got no dick and there’s a hole, then it’s all good,” said Kelvin.
“No, that would make you a homo,” said Renardo. “Plain and simple.”
“I don't know. I think it’s one of them gray areas,” said Kelvin.
“No, it ain’t!” said Renardo a little upset. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Impala, what you think?” asked Kelvin.
“The heart wants what it wants,” said Impala. “And so does the dick.”
“You know, there was a time, I woulda just kicked your ass for not being normal,” said Renardo. “You know, on general principle, but I’m on this thing of trying to be a better person, more enlightened and shit. You can’t help what you are. It’s like being born with one of them fucked up baby arms or retarded. So, I’m respectin’ the universe and not going there.”
“Hurrah for you,” said Impala crossing her legs and she caught Kelvin peeking at them.
“See, that was sarcastic,” said Renardo, “but I’m not letting it get to me. People been trying my nerves lately but I’m gonna stay in control.”
“He really is a changed man,” said Kelvin. “You just don’t know. Last year, well, I can’t really say, but let’s just say last year was cray cray.”
“So, you ain’t got nothing to say about what just went down back there with the Rev?” asked Renardo.
“None of my business,” said Impala. “I know the kind of man he is. He don’t judge me and I don’t judge him. Whatever this is between the two of you, I’m sure he brought it on himself. The Reverend is full of fake pride about stuff. I just do me and move on.”
“That’s a good way to be,” said Renardo. “Wouldn’t want to have to come looking for you.”
“There is it right there,” said Impala.
Kelvin pulled into the Denny’s, which was very crowded. Impala fixed her face in the mirror again.
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said. And then she got out and walked inside.
Renardo got into the front seat and watched her walk in.
“She’s gonna go right back to him,” said Kelvin. “You know that.”
“That’s her problem,” said Renardo. “He’s out of my business and I now I gotta decide what to do about Thom.”
“I say we take the money, then fuck him up,” said Kelvin. “We can’t let that shit stand.”
“How does that get me my dream?” asked Renardo. “How does that set me up for life, which is what I was promised?”
“It don’t but you’ll feel better,” said Kelvin.
“Thom ain't gonna make it that easy,” said Renardo. “He ain’t no punk. He knows people now and he’s from a rich family…”
“What?” asked Kelvin when Renardo didn’t continue.
“Thom ain’t the one we should be concentrating on. I pretended to negotiate with him to put him
at ease while I thought about what I was gonna do but I got it. We take the wife.”
“We kill her?” asked Kelvin.
“Get the wax out of your ears, dumbass. I said we take her. We kidnap the bitch.”
“Oh, snap,” said Kelvin. “This is like why we had all that research on him.”
“Yes,” said Renardo a little exasperated. “Just in case something like this happened. This is part of my new thing. The old me would just wing it, but it’s good to be prepared.”
Renardo pulled out his cell phone and pulled up a file. In it was a breakdown of everything they knew about Thom Ross.
Thom had a mistress who lived in Ann Arbor and she had a little girl. He went by to hit it twice a month usually on a Wednesday. He liked to gamble but only in Canada for some reason. He had drinking and golfing buddies and generally led a privileged white man’s life.
His wife, was a doctor whose family was old money rich. She was homely and fancied herself some kind of do-gooder. She had a brother she shared the family money with. Parents were dead.
“Remember when we followed her. She got that yoga class,” said Renardo. “We can get her there.”
“But she don’t have no regular night,” said Kelvin.
“Then we go every night until we see the bitch,” said Renardo. “Get the place ready. I’m about to show Thom that you do not go back on your word to me. Okay, let’s roll.” They drove away. A moment after they pulled off, Impala left the restaurant and pulled up her Über app so she could go back to the reverend.
11
SLAP
To find a drug addict, you have to think like one. A dopefiend is like a really smart child. They are clever, but their logic is always juvenile and they tend to leave obvious clues because they are ashamed of themselves.
We could have been looking for RaRa's mother, Delores, forever if we didn't know this. We knew that she would be using somewhere close to her son's apartment in case she got into trouble or needed to steal something from him or compromise him in some way. An addict’s loved ones are always the best source for exploitation.
Delores didn’t have a car and was on foot, so notwithstanding a car service, she probably took the bus looking to score. We followed the bus route to the first bad stretch of neighborhood and started asking around.
Contrary to what people believe, there is no rule against snitching in the 'hood. A man or woman will drop on you in a second for money. It's only when people are watching that you will find tight lips.
We got three houses quickly. The first one had two armed guards and juvie lookouts. This was a sell house and the users could stay for a fee. No way Delores was in there, we thought. Too expensive.
The second one looked better. It was actually an abandoned row of commercial buildings that were marked for renovation. In the meantime, the Bergman Building was a communal flop house and whatever else locals could think of. The power was rigged and the heat probably was, too.
"Big place," I said. "We could be here a while."
"If they don't all run," said Vinny.
"I say we tell the truth. A man's dead and we're looking for a next of kin."
“You're getting soft, Cavanaugh," she smiled. “Time was, you’d just plow through until you got what you wanted.”
“Just trying to keep it simple," I said. “And I ain't the one killed a dude in our backyard."
"Not gonna let me forget that, are you?” Vinny said.
"Not for a while,” I responded.
Someone had put a hit on me in a case and made the mistake of trying to do it at my home. We caught him in the backyard and Vinny, barefoot and pregnant, had put one in his head.
We got out of the car around the corner from the place. We parked under a streetlight and made sure to leave my DPD sign in the window. We walked the block to the buildings.
"Smell that?" asked Vinny. "Barbecue."
Someone was grilling nearby and the smell was wafting all over, carried by the wind. Whatever it was, it was pungent and gamey.
The front of the place was guarded by an unarmed kid about sixteen or so. He was overweight and mixed race and had that look of desolation about him. It's in the eyes, a belief that there is nothing good to come. Tilt that one way, and the guy's a lost soul. Go the other way, and he's a killer.
This kid was the first kind, not dangerous but he'd accepted that his life was never gonna matter.
"Nickel entry," said the kid. "Pop que-ing back there.”
I handed the kid a five. He pocketed it and pointed to a narrow passage between buildings that led to the back of the place.
"We lookin' for a lady," I said. "Her boy is hurt bad and she don't know about it."
"Delores," said Vinny.
"I don't be gettin' names," said the kid, "but it's several females called “D” one way or another.”
Me and Vinny headed down the narrow walkway and as we did, the food smell became stronger and we could hear talking, cheering and music.
At the end of the walkway, a man stepped out. He had the same look as the kid out front, but tilted the bad way. Vinny tensed behind me. She felt it too.
“What y’all wont?” asked the man. He had a hard, craggy face. He’d seen some shit, I thought.
“Looking for somebody,” I said.
“We don’t do that and if ya’ll cops, you need a warrant. We squatters back here.”
“A woman’s son is dead and she doesn’t know,” said Vinny. “We’re just here to tell her.”
“Look, y’all know folks doin’ stuff back here. We don’t need no trouble.”
Normally, this is where I’d show him my badge or better the gun and shit would go left, but we were not trying to have a damned shootout over finding a junkie.
“Let me give you a name and you tell me if we can see her,” I said. “Delores Ranier.”
The big man’s face showed recognition but there was something not right about it. Vinny tensed again and I felt it too.
“D-Lo be with my man Jimmy,” said the man. “You gon’ ‘hafta talk to him ‘bout all that. He run the fight corner over there. Can’t miss him, he the biggest thing out here.”
The guard stepped aside and we walked in to what used to be the parking lot of the place. It was like a little marketplace and village.
Drug use was everywhere and right in the middle, was an old white man barbecuing his ass off. He had a huge oil drum grill and a long line of people waiting to buy a plate.
“I think that’s goat he’s cooking,” said Vinny. “Daddy used to cook those in a pit back in the day.”
“I’ve dug a pit or two,” I said. “Been a while since I had that.”
“That’s got to be him,” said Vinny pointing to a big crowd in the northeast corner where the cheering was coming from.
There was a circle drawn with paint and in it, two men fought bare-handed, while the crowd bet and cheered the men on. You could see dried blood in the circle, history of the fights before.
A Samoan with an afro sat on a raised bench watching the spectacle. He was big like a lot of Samoan men and he had that hard bent look about him as well.
I knew there were a few local bare knuckle fight clubs in the city but I didn’t know who was running the east side one, until now.
We walked over and were met by two men who patted us down. We told them we were armed and one of them ran over to Jimmy who walked over with three more men.
“Y’all need to raise up,” said Jimmy. “We don’t want no trouble and this is private property.”
“We need to see D-Lo,” I said.
One of them produced a gun and held it down by his side.
“We’re asking,” said Vinny. “It’s about her son. He’s dead.”
“Y’all off duty?” asked Jimmy.
“Yeah,” I said. “Not trying to violate people for living.”
Some of the men laughed and this eased the tension a little. Jimmy was thinking now and he could see we weren't here for
trouble.
I had already calculated how I would shoot them if it got crazy. I’d move to my right, away from the one with the gun, while pulling the Glock with my left hand. Vinny would draw her weapon to my right. She’d hit the armed man and I would put one in Jimmy’s fat ass head. By then, the .45 would be out too and I’d catch one of the other men with it. Vinny would shoot another and then I’d just fire until no one was left standing.
“D-Lo belongs to me for the rest of this month,” said Jimmy. “She owes me and she’s working it off.”
We both knew what this meant. Delores was turning tricks for Jimmy on a drug debt. We also knew that she’d never be able to fully pay it off and would just ease into indentured servitude to the Samoan until she was no good to him.
Vinny was pissed about this. She had a thing about women’s issues and she saw a lot of this shit in the city, where women were treated like some kind of second-rate currency.
I gave her a look to say that she should let me talk. She would start cursing and then we’d never get out of here without violence.
“We’ll pay it,” I said. “She’s got to do the next of kin thing and we need to close this out.”
“How did he die?” asked Jimmy. “I thought he was some kind of computer kid.”
“Somebody killed him, robbery. His boss is a big shot in case you were wondering why we’re here.” I lied knowing the truth would be wasted on these guys.
“How about this,” said Jimmy. “I let her go and you owe me a favor.”
“Can’t do that,” I said. “I ain’t got it like that and I don’t lie to people no matter what they do for a living.”
“A woman lost her boy,” said Vinny. “Don’t that mean nothing to you?”
“Bitch got a big ass mouth,” said one of Jimmy’s men, a guy with a mane of dreads and big arms. “Might have to put something in it.”
The other men all laughed and I was hot. I know it was silly and Vinny can take care of herself but I was raised just like these men and I couldn’t help it. He insulted my woman and I take that shit personally.
“Vollo, what did I tell you about talking?” said Jimmy. “Apologize to the sister.”
Grind City Page 10
