by Leo Sullivan
Suddenly, the television did the strangest thing. The screen had turned gray with wavy lines running through it. The volume turned up and then I heard, “1640 proceed with caution black BM…” Just as quickly as it started the screen returned to normal.
“What the?”
I was bugging the fuck out as I stared at the TV with my chin damn near on the floor and my mouth forming into the shape of an O.
“OUCH!” I shrieked as the blunt burned my finger. I slung it onto the floor, but picked it up as I stared at the TV in confusion hoping that it would do whatever it did again. Had a police frequency come through the TV? I shook my head convincing myself that it couldn’t be possible. Damn, that had to be some good ass weed. I walked over to the window and peeked out into the darkness. Just when I was about to turn away I saw them. Officer Greyson’s Mercury Ford and two more under covers were parked in the distant, darkness across the street. They pulled off driving in the direction that Zeus and Buff drove. The Ford Blazer with A.J., Mike D., crazy ass Jerry and the rest of the hit squad had left hours before.
“Shit! Shit! Fuck! I panicked and picked up the phone to dial Zeus’s number. I listened to it ring for what felt like an eternity as I absent mindedly held my breath.
Answer your phone baby!! Answer the phone! ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE!
No answer.
I tried to call Buff after that. No answer from him either.
“Shit!” I ran out of the house, jumped inside my whip, burned rubber and headed to the club. Moments later I was on Interstate 95 doing a hundred miles an hour. My dilemma was the fact that I had to slow down to pass Officer Greyson and the caravan of undercover police cars that were trailing my man. I put on my shades to be incognito, slumped down in the seat and tried to cruise right by the cops.
* * *
As Officer Greyson trailed the brothers at a safe distance, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking about how all of his years of investigating Buff and Zeus were about to pay off. It had come down to that very moment. The confidential informant, Mickal Thomas, who went by the street name Money had agreed to set up the brothers Zeus and Buff with $44,000.00 in bait money to buy two kilos of cocaine at their club.
Greyson couldn’t help but smile. With the arrest he would kill two birds with one stone. They could close down that raunchy, crime infested club and get two of the Carolinas biggest Kingpins off the streets once and for all. Under the RICO Act, the Feds would pick the case up and under federal law each of the brothers would be sentenced to life in prison. Next to him he overheard his partner on the phone speaking in a whining voice that irritated him.
“Becky listen, baby we can work things out. You even took the dog,” Stephens complained. Greyson glanced in his direction as they passed an eighteen wheeler. The young detective continued,
“No, I don’t want to go to fucking divorce court and just because you fed the damn dog does not give you the right to…” Suddenly he stopped talking and just stared blankly at the phone.
“Everything alright?” Greyson asked nonchalantly as he looked in the review mirror and spotted a car coming up behind them at a rapid speed.
“Oh, yeah, the wife just wants me to come home. She misses me when I’m gone,” Stephens lied, rubbing his thighs as if he was trying to iron the wrinkles out of his pants with the palms of his hands.
“Uh huh,” Greyson muttered as he watched the car that was behind them slow down as it passed. He could vaguely make out the person in the car. The back lights from an eighteen wheeler illuminated the woman’s hair and facial features. He had to do a double take when he saw Zeaira trying to be discreet with a scarf tied around her head and large sun glasses on. Greyson thought about it for a second and then it dawned on him. She must have spotted them somehow and was on her way to warn the brothers. That was what his police instincts were telling him anyway.
Greyson got on his radio and called the dispatcher. “This is Officer Greyson. I’m on 95 North headed to road marker ten. I and my team are in the process of a major drug bust. There is a white Lexus ahead of us and it is about to cause an interference. I need a blue and white to pull the car over and detain the driver from obstructing our operation.”
“Ten four Officer Greyson. A patrol car is in route,” the female dispatcher said.
Next Greyson radioed the Crime Lab’s sound technicians, Larry Cole and Linda Evans. They were already positioned in back of the club in a rusty gray van. Inside of the van was equipped with the most advanced in surveillance equipment to record and film everything.
“How are we looking guys?” A low crackle came over the radio.
“We’re good. All our guys have to do is wait for the brothers in the back of the club and we can video the entire drug deal and then pounce on their asses,” Linda Evans replied. She was a twenty five year old rookie and drop dead gorgeous. She looked like she could be casted for a porn movie with her long platinum-blonde hair, sensuous, full lips, hour glass figure and huge breasts. She had a face like Marilyn Monroe with the beauty mark and all. That was where the similarities stopped. Linda was a true to heart cop who loved her job with a passion. She also had the tendency to be a little trigger happy. On the other hand, Larry Cole was your average cop. In his mid-forties, with a receding hairline and pot belly, he loved the job, but wasn’t going to get killed over it by being overly aggressive like his partner Linda could be at times.
“As long as our boy has the wire on him we should be able to pick up the entire conversation, well maybe not in the club if the music is too loud”.
“Fuck!” Greyson scuffed.
“Still, we should be able to pick up bits and pieces of incriminating conversation,” Cole added as he adjusted his head phones.
“Okay, when our guy exchanges the bait money for the dope and walks off, that’s when I want all units to move in. We’ll be on the next block and we can’t risk being detected. Cole, and Evan will be the first to make a move. We do have agent Smith in the club and he can help with the take down.”
“Okay,” Linda said as she adjusted her audio equipment. She couldn’t wait, since she would be the first on the scene to make the initial bust until back up came. Just the thought of it gave her an adrenaline rush
* * *
I slouched down low in my seat and cruised right pass a convoy of cop cars with Greyson’s Ford Mercury in the lead. The entire time I continued to call Zeus and Buff on speed dial and prayed that they would answer the phone. Still there was no answer.
Up ahead was the exit and it took everything in my power not to put the pedal to the metal, but I was at least two miles ahead of the cops. Time seemed to be on my side. That was until I drove pass a blue and white patrol car parked on the median in the middle of the highway. I eased my foot off the pedal and let the car cruise as I checked the review mirror. I sighed in relief because the cop car wasn’t coming. An eighteen wheeler came up behind me just as I switched lanes to get off the highway at my exit. When I was about to turn off, I heard a fucking siren chirping behind me and saw lights flashing. A patrol car appeared right on my bumper.
“Fuck!” I cursed and pulled over on the side of the road as cars raced by. A billboard read, “Stop Child Abuse”. Then I realized that I had a partially burned blunt in the ashtray that was big enough to get me a possession charge. Just as I grabbed it there was a sharp rap on the window that made me damn near jump out my skin. The cop was tapping on the window with one of those big black flashlights. I let the window down. The foul scent of something dead was in the air as the wind blew, causing the line of police cars streaming by to rock my car.
“Did you know you was speeding?” The cop asked with a southern drawl. His face was pinked from the chill of the wind. He had a bulldog face, with a sagging chin and droopy hound dog eyes with deep wrinkles underneath.
“I wasn’t speeding officer,” I protested, careful to keep the attitude out my voice to not piss him off.
“Yes, you was! Yo
u was doing fifty eight in a fifty five mile an hour speeding zone.”
“Are you FUCKIN’ serious!?” I snapped.
He cocked his hat back, bent down and peered inside my car.
“Lemme see your license and registration?” He was so close that I could see the tiny green veins underneath his eyes. Then his big ass nosed crinkled like he smelled something foul.
“Is that marijuana I smell?”
“No sir!” I held the blunt tightly in my hand, but the weed was that potent.
“No sir, what?” He barked and began to flash the light all around in my car.
“No sir, I don’t have no weed or my license on me. I was on my way to the store to get some tampons and Midol because I’m cramping bad.” I gave him my best impression of a woman with bad period cramps as I hit him with the oldest sympathy lie that most men easily went for. Well, except for him.
“Ma’am could you please stop outside the vehicle.”
“What! Step out!? For what? I told you that I’m in pain,” I pleaded.
“I’m not going to ask you again! Step out the vehicle and place your hands where I can see ‘em.” He then placed his hand on his .45, keeping his eyes on me like I was going to just pull out a gun and start busting shots on his ass. He requested a K9 unit and a female officer to search me on his walkie talkie. The entire time I held the blunt in the palm of my hand as I stepped out of the car. I didn’t know that things were about to get crazier.
Chapter 4
From the moment Buff and Zeus pulled up to the club they were under police surveillance. They had rode alone in the black BMW and the rest of the crew were in a white Chevy Blazer with tinted windows. There was an arsenal of high powered weaponry that consisted of an AK-47, an AR-15, 9.mm and a Mossberg six shot shotgun. Baby faced A.J. was barely 19 years old and was the designated driver. He parked out a few yards behind an old beat up van that was next to a dumpster and waited.
“I’ma, I’ma, I’ma, bust on his pussy ass and ta, ta, ta, take dat McDonald’s bag,” Jerry boasted waving the Mossberg shotgun as he looked out of the window.
Tony ducked. “Man watch where you point dat shit at.” Tony was tall with freckles. At the time he was on house arrest for possession of cocaine, but he snuck out just to pull off the murders. He was due to get fifty thousand dollars from Buff and Zeus for the job. Tony would have done that shit for free because he and those niggas were tight like blood brothers.
“Chill Jerry and just do as we say. When we see them coming, we’ll get out and wait in back of the dumpsters. When they turn to walk off that’s when we open fire on those fools, “Mike D said. He was a big dude, chiseled with broad shoulders, a wide barrow chest that wore his hair cut in a low fade. He was fresh out of prison for doing a three year drug bid. He and Zeus were in a car together that had a few kilos stashed inside special made tires. Zeus had no idea that Mike was riding dirty, so it was only right that he took the whole wrap. Some nights he would work at the club as a bouncer to keep his PO off his ass. That night he worked as part of a hit squad for his dudes Zeus and Buff instead. Knowing Mike D’s loyalty was death before honor, the brothers felt that it was a must that he be part of the hit squad. The very fact that he had taken the case instead of letting Zeus go down was loyalty enough. While he was in the joint the brothers made sure that he and has family didn’t want for anything. They bought his mother a new house and made sure that Mike D and his children were straight.
All of the conspirators in the SUV grew up together in the projects and had once slept on the same pissy ass mattress, well except for crazy Jerry.
Jerry suddenly waved the shotgun, causing Mike D and Tony to duck.
“M , m, m, man, I j, j, j, just saw a light inside that van in front of us. S, s, s, something ain’t right”.
“Sit yo’ crazy ass down!!” Mike D. spat as he snatched the shotgun out of his hands. Jerry pouted with a scowl on his face as he continued looking at the van. He saw movement again and wrinkles from worry spread across his forehead. That time he decided not to say anything, since they thought he was crazy.
* * *
Buff and Zeus walked inside the club. To lure patrons in every Thursday there was a two for one drink special and the ladies got in free. The club was half full and it was only 9:42 pm. A few of the strippers lounged around the bar flirting with potential customers who were babysitting their drinks.
One of the partiers was an undercover cop dressed in blue Boss jeans, a black sweater, black suede Timberlands and a fitted Chicago Bull’s cap that was turned backwards. He wore a thick Cuban link chin with a Rolex watch and in iced-out bracelet. He could pass for a dope boy easily with the fake gold grill in his mouth.
Goody Mob was pumping through the club’s speakers “Who’s that peekin’ in my window. Pow! Nobody now.”
The manager of Club Trois was a woman by the name of Cynthia Cooper. She was sable complexioned, with a stunning body, supper model center fold smile and quick wit. Cynthia ushered the strippers away from the bar and back stage after seeing her bosses enter the club unexpectedly. She had once worked as a stripper at the club. The brothers were so taken aback by her stunning beauty and intelligence that once they found out she was a recent college graduate of Fayetteville State with a BS in Business they hired her immediately. She stripped to pay her tuition and the only reason that she was still stripping was because she lacked the experience to get a well-paying job. Despite her so called lack of work experience the club saw a thirty six percent profit increase during her first year on the job.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting ya’ll so early. Is anything wrong?” She smiled, catching them off guard as they scanned the club looking for Money. The beauty was dressed in a short, low cut, sequined dress that showed off lots of legs and cleavage.
“Everything is good Cynt. We just stopped by to see somebody about some business”. Buff said.
“Yeah, it’s all good. No worries,” Zeus responded not looking at her as he nudged his brother and gestured him over to a table in the back of the club. Money was sitting at the table with his lady Desi.
The brothers walked over to the table. As soon as Money looked up and saw them he smiled like cracked glass in a mirror
“Wuz up?” Buff asked taking a seat across the table from them, along with his brother. They exchanged dap as Desi fidgeted and adjusted the short, white miniskirt that had crept€ up her thighs.
“Heyyyy Buff and Zeus,” she sang above the music as the lights bounced an array of brilliant colors around the smoke filled room.
“So my nigga, where you been?” Zeus asked.
“Shit nigga, my old lady got sick, so I had to go out of town. You know she don’t live down here no more man.”
“Damn, you didn’t come visit me in the hospital or nothing,” Zeus said with a scowl painted on his face.
“Yeah, I was fucked up’ bout that too, but when my moms got sick that threw me off. I’m still tryin’ to find out about that shit with the robbery.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Zeus muttered. Buff elbowed him under the table.
A waitress appeared with a round, bubble butt, slim waist, small perky breasts and a gap between her two front teeth that somehow made her look attractive. She was dressed in tiny black shorts with her ass cheeks hanging out and a tight black corset that showed off part of her midriff. Buff quickly glanced at her wash board abs and belly button piercing before focusing back to the business at hand.
“Can I take your orders?” She giggled girlishly at serving her bosses. Cynthia watched in the background. She had personally sent the waitress over because all of the men loved Tiffany.
“No we’re good,” Zeus said dismissing the young waitress with his jaw clinched tightly before anyone else could order. Her smile died as she turned around and shook off her disappointment. She just knew that she was going to get a good tip.
“When ya’ll niggas gone crank shit back up?” Money asked as he placed the McDonald bag with the bai
t money on the table.
“Soon, real soon,” Buff commented looking at Money. They locked eyes and for the first time in his life Buff saw the larceny brewing and the treachery lurking. Money was rotten to the core.
“Yea, I miss that shit. Like when we was just shorties hustling weed in the PJ’s.” Money grinned.
“Hopefully I can get some revenge on the shit that happened to me and Dee. It’s fucked up how those pussy ass niggas robbed all our traps and killed him.” Zeus sat straight up in his chair.
Desi moved with a nervous twitch and began to smooth down her hair.
“I’m down for whatever. You know we all go way back like babies and pacifiers.” Money let out an uneasy chuckle as he adjusted his white and blue UNC t-shirt.
Buff nodded his head somberly. He swallowed the huge lump in his throat as he looked away from his friend turned foe that he was about to murder in cold blood.
“Yea, nigga when your mamma was fucked up on dope you lived with us for a year. We all wore the same damn hand me down ass clothes, ate fried baloney and that good ass government cheese,” he said.
“Fuck yeah and the time your ass got caught trying to steal that blue bomber winter coat from Neiman’s and I had to get stinky ass crack head James to act like your father to get you out of before yo’ mamma found out.” Money put on a tense smile and took a sip of his Hennessey as he watched the brothers with hooded eyes over the rim of his glass. He knew that bringing up the brothers’ deceased mother was probably not a good idea just by how they were looking at him. She’d died shortly after that episode due to lung cancer. Their father had never been in their lives.
“Well what the fuck happened then!!” Zeus shouted and banged his huge fist on the table knocking over a glass startling everyone, especially Desi. She looked like she wanted to take off running.
