by Glenn, Roy
Leon dropped his head. “Any problems?” he asked. I could tell by the look on his face that he was disappointed in me.
“Nope,” I said. I didn’t think he needed or wanted to know the details. The doorbell rang again and I got up to see who it was. “No problem at all.”
I looked out and saw a man standing there. “Who is it?”
“Police. I’m looking for Nina Thomas.”
“No problems, huh?” Leon said.
A cold chill came over me as I opened the door.
“Sorry to bother you, Miss Thomas. My name is Detective Kirkland, and I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Can I come in?”
I opened the door a little wider and let him come in. As soon as he saw Leon sitting there, his expression changed. “Hello, Leon.”
“What’s up, Kirk?” Leon said.
“I heard you moved to Florida. I didn’t know you were back in the city?”
“No, sir; I’m just here visiting.”
“Leon Copeland,” Kirk said and smiled. He looked at me. “Mind if I sit down?”
“Please, have a seat,” I said and the doorbell rang again.
“I’ll get that,” Kirk said and went to the door and opened it. “Come on in, Gene. There’s somebody here that you might remember from the old days.”
Another man walked in and took a look at Leon. His reaction was the same. “Leon Copeland.”
“Lieutenant Sanchez,” Leon said.
“I heard you took your business to Florida,” the Lieutenant said. “I didn’t know you were back in the city?”
“No, he said he’s just here visiting.”
“Who?” The lieutenant asked.
“I came to see my sister Angel.”
My phone rang and I looked at the cops. “You can go ahead and answer it,” Kirk said.
I picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“It’s Teena. I just heard the Kenyatta and two of her folks got dropped last night at her spot,” she said excitedly.
“Really, girl. You gonna have to tell me about that later. I got company right now,” I said as casually as I could.
“Company? Bitch, this shit is important.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, girl,” I said and hung up, and when I did the cops got back to Leon.
“What are you doing here, Leon?” Kirk asked.
“Miss Thomas used to date my cousin,” Leon said.
“Lorenzo Copeland,” Kirk said and looked at the lieutenant.
“That’s right. I just stopped by to holla at her.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Kirk said.
“Why is that, Kirk?” Leon asked.
“Because it just might answer a question that was nagging me.”
“Glad I could help, Kirk. You wanna tell me what that is?”
“Sure. Last night three people, Kenyatta Damson, Robert King and Bernard “Blade” Bradshaw, were killed outside of her drug spot. We also found the body of another woman, Shantia Lewis; she was executed in a vacant apartment in the same building,” Kirk said, and I did my best to look like it meant nothing to me. “She used to work for your cousin Lorenzo.”
“And since he’s in jail,” Sanchez said with a big smile on his face. “We were wondering who was supplying her. That wouldn’t be you, would it, Leon?”
“No, sir. I don’t have no business in New York no more.” Leon looked at Kirk. “You know that, Kirk.”
“You made a deal with Black?”
Leon didn’t answer, but it was apparent that everybody but me knew what he was talking about. I knew I should just keep quiet since they seemed to be more interested in Leon than me, but I couldn’t. “Can I ask a question?”
“Sure, Miss Thomas, go ahead.”
“What are you doing here? I don’t know any of those people you mentioned; so why are you here?”
Kirk and Sanchez both stood up. “We came here hoping that you might help us find some of your boyfriend’s associates and we found you with Leon,” Kirk said. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. But I’m sure we’ll talk again.”
After that, the cops left my apartment and I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at Leon. He was sitting there with his head in his hands. “That’s not good, Nina. You don’t wanna be nowhere around nothing Kirk is involved in. You need to shut down now and come South with me for a while until that is closed, or until Kirk moves on to something else.”
“Why? I didn’t kill none of them,” I said and knew that Shantia Lewis was the one Teena executed. “Why do you think we need to shut down?”
“Nina, listen to me. If Kirk came to see you, fuck what he said, that means he knows that you’re involved with Kenyatta. Next thing you know, they have you under surveillance, if they don’t already, and then you’ll be in jail.”
I trusted Leon, he was more than just my supplier, Leon was family. He was my mentor. It was Leon who taught me the game after Lorenzo went to jail. He told me that I needed to build my own team. And I did. The only exception to that was Kenyatta. I had known her since junior high school. And since I was the one that brought her to Lorenzo, I thought that she would be loyal to me—and she was. She was the foundation of my operation; where I moved the bulk of my product. Now she was dead and my being associated with her brought the cops to my door, and what’s worse was that Leon was there and now they suspected him. I had fucked up all the way around.
I looked at Leon, he looked worried and I had never seen him look that way. I knew he wasn’t worried about himself. He could get on a plane and head back to Jacksonville and never have to worry about the NYPD again. He was worried for me.
“Look, Nina. Maybe it’s time you think seriously about getting out of the game.”
“And do what?”
“Whatever you want to do. This ain’t your life you’re livin’; it’s Lorenzo’s life. It’s my life. I ain’t have no choices. This is what I was born and raised to do. What my daddy and my uncles have always done. I knew from the start that this life would end in one of two ways: That’s in jail or dead. Half my family is in jail, Nina. The rest gave they’re life to the game. That’s the way it is. But it ain’t got to be like that for you. You don’t have to do this, Nina. You been to college; got a degree. You’re still young, you’re pretty and you’re smart, Nina. You can do something with your life. I’ma say this one more time, Nina, then I’m done with it. Maybe it’s time you think seriously about getting out of the game. ’Cause I can guarantee you this, Kirk may not have no murder case on you, but if you stay in business, Sanchez will put a drug case on you and you’ll be in jail within a year.”
I didn’t want to hear that shit, but I knew he was right. “Okay, Leon, I get it.”
“Good,” Leon said and stood up. “I’m leaving in the morning. You let me know if I’m flyin’ alone.”
“Where’re you going now?”
“I’m going to see Angel. Why, you wanna come?”
“No,” I said quickly.
“Why you say it like that?”
“Angel makes me uncomfortable,” I said and walked Leon to the door.
“How does Angel make you uncomfortable?”
“Angel wants some pussy and I ain’t the one.”
“My sister does have a way with women.” Leon laughed. “Men too.”
“Whatever. You say hey to Angel for me, and call me tonight and I’ll let you know what I’m gonna do.”
After Leon left I thought about what he’d said and knew he was right. I mean, what was I doing? This was not the life I planned for myself. It took me five years, but I graduated from Hampton University with a degree in business administration. My plan after graduation was to have some fun hanging out with Teena and Shay for the summer, and then I’d get serious about getting a job in September. I had planned to work for a year and then go back for my master’s. I let all the things I had planned for myself after coll
ege, get away from me. I had been out of school for years and I hadn’t looked for a job or filled out an application to grad school. At first I got so caught up in Lorenzo and what he was doing, that I lost myself in being the baller’s woman. I loved Lorenzo and was happy to be anywhere he was, doing anything he was doing.
Then he went to jail, and instead of turning my life around and getting back to my plan, I let the money lead me to becoming a baller myself. I thought back to me, Shay, and Teena sitting in my living room, talking about getting into the game. And most importantly, avoiding Lorenzo’s fate.
“You were the flashy one. Drivin’ that BMW; spending all that money shoppin’. And Teena, you weren’t too much better. Both of y’all was caught up in that lifestyle.”
“Don’t hate, Shay,” I said.
“I’m not hatin’. Come on, Nina. You know me better then that. I’m just being real. Y’all two heifers was caught up in that ballers’ girl lifestyle, spending money like it was water. Now what you got to show for it? Government took everything but the clothes you had on your back.”
I was as low profile as it got. I sold the BMW and got a Honda Civic. I lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in a rundown building. Sure, it was laid out on the inside, but I didn’t let a lot of people in here. I cut out all that shopping for clothes. Shit, I didn’t wear half of them anyway. I kept to myself and didn’t go out much. The only time I left the apartment was to go to Jacksonville to get product or to sell it. With the exception of Cedric and Victor, I didn’t have a man; and you see how they turned out. This was not the way I planned to live my life. I didn’t have a life, and maybe it was time for that to change.
Leon’s words kept ringing in my mind. You need to shut down now and come South with me for a while. If he thought I needed to get out of town, then I was Florida bound. Later that night I went to tell Teena and Shay what I had decided.
Chapter Eleven
Rain Robinson
I knew who Baby John was: His name was John Tinselly. He used to roll with Kevin and Jay when they used to stickup joints. That’s how I met Jay; the three of them were at JR’s one night after they hit a big score, and were droppin’ paper buyin’ drinks like it wasn’t shit. When Jay saw me he dropped his drink; I don’t know if it was just because he was drunk, or because he never saw a body like mine.
He rushed over to me and tried to talk, but his game was so lame that I played him off. After that, he was at the club every night tryin’ to talk to me, until he’d wore me down and I finally went out with him. At the time I was just startin’ to roll, and the one thing I could say about him was, back then, Jay Easy had heart.
He got cracked over some stupid shit. We had just gotten through takin’ care of a problem, and when we split up, I gave him the guns ’cause they was both hot, and told him to get rid of them. But before he got to do it, decides he needs to stop and get some cigarettes. When he leaves the store, he gets pulled over. Cops searched the car and found the guns. The guns had bodies on them, so Jay Easy goes down for murder, but he gets out on a technicality. His lawyer said the search was an illegal search, ’cause the cops didn’t have no reason to stop him; so they ain’t have no reason to search the car. But when he got out, I was with Nick and I wasn’t interested in steppin’ down.
Right now, lookin’ back on that shit, I kinda wish I was a little nicer to Jay the night he came by the club after he got out—he just caught me at a bad time. I had smoked me a blunt, was sippin’ on some Patron, and I had watched a little porn and was waitin’ on Nick to come and fuck me silly, the way he always does. So when Jay got there, I was just tryin’ to get rid of him before Nick got there. “Look, Jay,” I said that night. “Me and you is done. Now you need to get the fuck up outta here before I call security to throw your ass out.”
That shit was wrong, but shit, Nick got there right after Jay left. Shit, I never thought that nigga would go out like that. Start robbin’ me and shit. That nigga ripped a hole in my program and put me out of business. I had to kill his ass. But when you kill one, I guess you gotta take out the whole damn family—and their friends—before the shit is done.
I had been ridin’ for hours and I still hadn’t found where Baby John was hidin’ out. I was just thinkin’ about goin’ home and gettin’ in the bed, when my cell rang. I looked at the display. Nick, damn. I turned off the music and let it ring a few times. Then I answered it like I was asleep. I just hoped that he wasn’t callin’ me from my apartment.
“Hello.”
“Did I wake you?” Nick asked.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That’s okay.”
“How do you feel?”
“I’m okay. When you gonna get here?” I asked so I’d know how much time I had.
“I don’t think I’m gonna make it over there until late, so I’ll probably go home and see you in the morning.”
“No, baby. Come get in the bed wit’ me.”
“It’s gonna be late and I don’t wanna bother you. Besides, you need to rest and you know how you are: If I come over there you’re gonna wanna fuck.”
“Anything wrong with that?” I asked, playin’ my role and hopin’ he wouldn’t call my bluff.
“No, but like I said, you need your rest.”
“You’re probably right. You do what you gotta do and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Get some rest,” Nick said and ended the call.
I hated lyin’ to Nick like that, but I felt like I had to do it this way. Nick was about to kill me over the shit I was doin’ and his warning to me was still fresh in my mind. You don’t get another chance. I wasn’t about to give that nigga another reason to even think about killin’ me ’cause I was too much trouble.
Now that I knew I had all night, I wasn’t feelin’ tired no more. I was gonna find Baby John if that shit took all night. I stopped in a bar to get a drink and got lucky. There was Baby John, seated at a table near the back of the bar with two honeys. Knowing how my temper gets, I started to just walk up to him and start blastin’, but that’s how I got shot the last time. So I took a seat at the bar, ordered a drink, and watched him; waiting for my opportunity to kill him.
I sat there watching him drop money on drinks for them honeys for damn near two hours. Since he’d just gotten out, I figured it was the money Kevin had paid him to kill my brother. I wondered if they knew that Miles was still alive; and if they knew, would they try again. I thought that I should have told Miles to request to be put in segregation, until this was over; but it was too late for that now.
I guess his money ran out, ’cause the honeys got up and moved on the some other mutha fuckas in the bar. Baby John sat there for a while and then he got up and started staggerin’ toward the door. I finished my drink, paid my tab and followed him out.
The fact that he was wasted would only make my job easier, I thought as I watched him walked down the street, bumpin’ into people, poles, and cars. When he rounded the corner I picked up my pace. The street was dark and there was nobody around that I could see. Then he did me a favor. When Baby John fell, I was on top of him. “What’s up, John?”
He looked up and saw me standing over him with my pistol pointed at this head.
“Why you stab my brother?”
“I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that. I didn’t even know your brother.”
I shot him in the leg. “Don’t lie to me, John. I know it was you that done it. Just tell me why?”
“I didn’t kill your brother, Rain.”
“I know you didn’t kill him, John. I talked to him today. So don’t tell me that you didn’t have nothin’ to do wit’ it, ’cause I know you did it.” I shot him in the other leg this time. “Last chance. Why you stab my brother?” I asked and put the gun to his head.
“Kevin Easely paid me to kill him ’cause you killed Jay Easy.”
“You tell me where Kevin is and I might let your drunk-ass live.”
“He’s at a house on Carpenter Avenue, down 219th Street. I’m not sure which house it is,” he said quickly and I took the gun away from his head.
“Who’s there with him?”
“I don’t know. I swear, Rain, I don’t know.”
Now that he had told what I needed to know, I raised my gun and pressed it against his temple. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna kill me.”
“I lied,” I said and put two in his head.
I knew exactly which house it was: It was his grandmother’s house. Jay Easy took me there when we first got together. I parked on 220th Street and walked down the block. I took a minute to think about what I was gonna do. I could wait here and hope that he came out, or I could go in after him. You know which one I went wit’. I started walking toward the door, when I saw a woman walking toward the house with a bag of groceries. When she got to the door and started fumbling around for her keys, I moved on her. I rushed up behind her and put my hand over her mouth and my gun in her face.
“You can live or die, it’s up to you.” She nodded her head. “I’ma take my hand away. If you scream or try to run, I’ll kill you. Understand?” She nodded again and I took my hand away. “Kevin in there?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s in there with him?”
“His grandmother and two of his boys.”
“Where are they?”
“Kevin and his grandmother are upstairs. His boys are downstairs in the living room.”
“Unlock the door. We goin’ in nice and easy, hear me?”
She nodded her head and unlocked the door. She went inside and I followed close behind her with my gun to her head. When we got in the house and approached the living room, I could hear his boys talkin’. “What’s up, Kendra? You bring the brew?”
When I got to the opening I pushed her on the floor and opened fire. I shot the first one in the chest. When I turned on the other, he had his gun out and took a shot at me. I fired back and ducked behind the wall while he fired away. When he stopped I came out from behind the wall and hit him with three shots to the chest.
I reloaded my gun and started up the stairs to get Kevin. When I turned around, there was Kendra, with the gun shakin’ in her hand. “Don’t do it.”
