by L. E. Newell
As they were pulling away, he looked down the incline and saw the same lady he had seen at the hospital’s parking lot walking to the end of the hotel rooms 24 and 25. He couldn’t quite make out the face, neither could he shake the feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. He was sure that wherever it was, there was some kind of danger involved.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nitty-Gritty Time
Rose was beyond being stunned when she opened the door to room 24 and saw her beloved nephew lying on the floor. She couldn’t afford to be caught there with no dead body, regardless of who it was, so she eased out of the room and headed back to her car. Later, as she was driving down Main Street in East Point, she was to stunned to even think straight.
She was in such a daze that she couldn’t recall walking over to his inert body to check his pulse, but she must have from all of the blood that was smeared on her blouse. She couldn’t recall holding him to her bosom or the tears that flowed down her cheeks. But her eyes were still puffy. She looked into the mirror and pulled it down to see the blood all over her face. She looked further to see it all over her arms and hands.
She drove around aimlessly for what seemed like hours and hours, with no destination ever entering her thoughts. She had no idea where she was when she finally came out of her zombielike state. She knew that she was hungry because of the rumbling in her stomach but she didn’t have a appetite. Now how in the hell was that possible? she thought when she noticed a Waffle House and pulled into the parking lot. As she stepped out of the car, she saw that the dreary night was turning into a dreary day.
She mustered the strength to make an order, but all she ended up doing was sip on the coffee. She noticed that several customers were looking at her strangely, so she went into the bathroom to get away from their staring eyes. Looking into the big mirror, she saw that she was indeed covered with blood.
Her mind quickly snapped back to reality and she began washing the blood off of herself. She managed to get a lot of it rinsed off. From there her calculating mind kicked in. Her thoughts turned to Al and the shit he was talking at the hospital. A smile slowly crept to her lips; he was already a dead man. The only thing left was figuring out the best way to do it. But first things first. She had to get to the store, her safe haven whenever things got tough. To the few people that knew of her and Don’s relationship, she would act the grieving aunt, so that when she took Al out, no one would suspect an act of revenge. But there would be revenge; there was no doubt about it.
She left the Waffle House trying to recognize where she was. After driving through several lights, she saw the Farmers Market warehouse. She was in Forest Park, only a half-hour or so from the store and her house. When she got on Jonesboro Road, she noticed an open pasture and pulled onto the shoulder. She saw what she was looking for almost immediately. Picking it up she went back to the car and steered back onto the highway. After traveling for about a half-mile, she put the daisy on the steering wheel and started plucking petals.
“He suffers, he suffer not, he suffers, he suffers not,” she repeated to herself until all the petals were gone. She nodded her head, smiling, knowing now how she was going to do it.
Lt. Woo walked around the pool at the Motel 6, with the same superior strut she always did when she was on one of her many drug raids. The grim intimidating sneer on her face was genuine as she turned her mouth down at the fools who had gotten caught up in the net. On the other hand, she was extremely proud as she shook the hands and patted the backs of her well-trained drug squad members. A wave of euphoria coursed through her body as she secretly thanked her many informants for supplying her with the correct data to orchestrate the successful raid. As she always did, she gave the users and pushers time to get rid of whatever illegal substances they may have had on their persons. Smiling mischievously at the wet and shivering mob, she wondered how many of them would be silly enough to try to hold on to some. There were always a few who figured they could get away. It was rare that one did, though.
These scare tactics had proven to be a good deterrent in slowing down the drug traffic on I-20 in the past. The ordeal had a way of chasing some of the people, especially the users, to the various rehab centers in the Metro area; as well as causing the pushers to ply their trade elsewhere.
Since the jails were already too overcrowded, it wasn’t feasible to take all the violators in, so the scare tactics usually worked out pretty well as an alternative. Still there was always a handful of diehards, who tried to hold on to their product. Hell, if they were that stupid or desperate, they deserved to be locked up.
After watching those few fools get shoved into the police van, she left instructions with her top subordinates and left the scene, leaving them to wrap things up. As she pulled onto the entrance ramp to I-20, she picked up her cell phone and placed a call to one of her favorite snitches to make plans for a rendezvous.
As she neared Candler Road, she got a sudden urge for something sweet and decided to get a box of donuts from the Dunkin Donuts across the street from the South DeKalb Mall. As she pulled into the parking lot, she was surprised to see the police chief seating at the counter. Might as well give her my briefing now, she decided as she got out of her car and entered the shop. With a bright smile, she took a seat on the stool beside her.
The chief greeted her with a questionable one of her own and invited her to join her at one of the booths to enjoy a cup of coffee and snack as they chatted. Before they could even get the conversation started, some boisterous customers entered the shop. As they looked at the group, irritated at their disrespectful entrance, they heard a resounding boom in the background.
“Sounds like somebody’s car must be backfiring out there or something,” Beverly said as she sipped from her steaming cup of brew.
“Probably so, ah, what I wanted to…” Woo started to say when the sound repeated, this time longer than the first, much too loud and long to be a car backfiring.
Their reactions were simultaneous, when they realized that it was a rapid succession of gunfire. As one, they exploded from their seats, knocking coffee cups and donuts off of the table, as they sprinted for the door with their guns drawn. With determined looks on their faces, the rambunctious group scrambled wildly in all directions at the sight of the firearms.
As Beverly followed the smaller, quicker Woo in a full run in the direction of the gunfire, all of her gut instincts told her that her boys were involved.
Several minutes earlier, Rainbow and Sparkle had entered the room that ‘B’ had gotten for them at the La Quinta. They had just dropped Miriam off in room 316 where the girls shared a suite connected to 317. Checking the parking lot when they got there, they saw no sign of the car that had followed them. Naturally, they wondered about that and what ‘B’ could have done to get rid of them. Fuck it, they’d deal with it later.
They went to the hotel lobby to pick up some chocolate-covered donuts and coffee at the snack bar in before they went to the room. One of ‘B’’s scantily clad hoes greeted them at the door and waved to the beds. Then she and another half-naked pixie giggled and scampered to the bathroom.
Lying on the bed, looking all tired and satisfied after an obvious round of ménage à trois with the two vixens, was ‘B’ who was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Not even trying to hide his disgust, Rainbow flopped on the bed on ‘B’’s legs. He let out a painful grunt as he sat up awkwardly and pushed him off of his legs.
Leaning to the side, still pinning his feet, Rainbow smiled. “Godayum, dog, here me and Sparkle are going through some life-and-death shit and here you are doing...doing, whatever the fuck you were doing.”
Sparkle thought that he’d egg him on a little more and sat on the bed, too, bumping his ass against his shoulder as he did so.
“Yeah, fool, what happened to those guys that were following you and the girls?” ‘B’ grunted loudly, shot an elbow to Sparkle’s back side and tried to kick Rainbow through the covers. “Man, get the fuck off
my feet. That shit hurts. You know how bad my dogs are.”
Rainbow laughed and scooted away from his kicking feet. “Aw, man, shut the hell up and getcha sorry ass up.” Then his expression turned quite solemn. He started rubbing the sides of his face. “By the way, that nigga Don’s dead.”
‘B’’s brow balled up in astonishment. “Whatcha mean he dead, like dead dead?”
“Hell yeah, like dead dead, like graveyard dead,” Rainbow said as he looked at him like he was brain-dead.
‘B’ wiggled his way from under the cover and scooted to the edge of the bed. “Damn, that’s fucked up. I mean it’s not fucked up like fucked up because that punk had to go, for sho, but fucked up that y’all got to worry about if y’all got away with it or not.”
Sparkle shook his head first. “Naw, partner, we didn’t kill him. The nigga was dead when we got there.”
Rainbow stood up. “Yeah, man, evidently someone else wanted his ass as bad as we did. Uh-huh, and I saw that nigga Al’s car rolling out of there before I made my move to go inside. And that ain’t all.”
“Damn, there’s more?”
“Yep, there’s more. Another car that I know I’ve seen around the way several times rode out like they were following him.”
“Hmmph.”
“And there’s more.”
“Well, godayum, man, how much more can there be? Shit.”
“And this old lady I keep seeing was heading for the room as we were scooting out of there.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, damn.”
Rainbow yanked the cover up and threw it over his head. “So what about those fools who were following you?”
“Huh!!” ‘B’ replied as he stared blankly at the wall.
“Huh, come on, man, you heard me.”
‘B’ started rubbing his eyes with his gnawed-up knuckles. “Oh yeah, uh, when we pulled into DeKalb County Jail’s parking lot, those fools just kept on driving by. I guess they didn’t want to be seen nowhere near the big house.”
Rainbow and Sparkle smiled at each other before Rainbow started scratching the top of his head and sighed. “Anyway, we still got business to take care of and you laying around getting your nasty, little-ass dick sucked and soaked.”
‘B’ turned his mouth down as his eyes shifted around under half-closed lids like he was ready to do some rapid-fire comeback. As usual, he didn’t disappoint, being that he still thought he had mack-of-the-year qualities, even though he was old as sin.
He pulled his dick out, still dripping after-cum and shook it. “Red-ass, wannabe, gangsta-ass nigga, ain’t a damn thang small or nasty about this magic stick here. Ask those bitches over yonder if this mutha here can still work miracles in their mouths, pussies or wherever else I slang this bitch here.”
Both of them jumped back cursing as the slime spewed back and forth. Sparkle picked up a towel laying on the back of the chair and tossed it over his head. “Come on, crazy-ass, has-been pimp, wipe ya ass and get dressed. We ain’t got all night to be bullshitting around.”
‘B’’s attention was suddenly drawn to the giggling sound coming out of a crack in the bathroom door. The change in his expression from angry buddy to gorilla pimp was scary as hell, even to his lifetime partners. He snatched the towel off of his head and growled, “Y’all bitches had better get y’all cum-bucket asses out here and get me some damn clothes.”
Before the last word was even out of his mouth, both girls sprinted into the room giggling and acting all girlie as they started scrambling through the assorted outfits on hangers beside the basin. Now that they were busy doing their duty, his features softened and he turned his attention back to his boys. “Okay, so how we gonna handle this thing now?”
Rainbow, who was admiring himself in the dresser’s mirror, patted his hair and ran a finger over his tongue. “I figured we’d roll by the hotels and pick up the dope the girls left hidden. And then hit the club to check on Mack and Junior to give them a rundown so that they can get themselves together because the five-o’s gonna definitely harass them investigating Don’s demise.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sparkle added as he watched ‘B’ as he steadily growled at the girls while he got dressed.
Damn, ‘B’ has got to be one of the evilest men in the whole world. Nigga keeps a permanent grit on his face, especially in front of these whores. Sparkle shook his head at the constant verbal assault. He looked over at Rainbow, who was still stuck on admiring himself in the mirror. He couldn’t hold back on the sarcasm. “Nigga, how many times have you seen that bitch looking back atcha? Come on, dog, get outta the glass before the damn thing cracks.”
Rainbow tilted his head back slightly. “I’d rather look at me than any of y’all ugly muthafuckas.” They continued to throw mental barbs at each other until ‘B’ was fitted, armed and ready to roll. They stopped at the other room for a brief moment to give the girls a rundown before they piled into ‘B’’s New Yorker and hit I-20.
Minutes later, after leaving the Holiday Inn and Motel 6 on Wesley Chapel, they were rolling toward the Red Roof Inn. For a reason that he couldn’t understand, Sparkle started getting a tingling sensation at the nape of his neck. He quickly chalked it up to the usual déjà vu he experienced every time he passed this way, recalling that first day out of the joint when he had watched that drug raid. There was something about that place that never set right with him. He tapped ‘B’ on the shoulder as they turned off of Candler into the driveway that led to the inn. “Yo, dog, let me out here at the Citgo. I’m gonna pick us up some cigarettes and a couple of bottles of Ole E. Y’all ain’t got to wait on me. I’ll walk on up to the room.”
As Sparkle was standing at the counter to pay for his items, he could’ve sworn that he saw Lt. Woo going into the donut spot across the lot. He shrugged at the likelihood of it being her because all Asian chicks seemed to look alike to him. Perhaps he was being jittery because of all the recent events and circumstances that had them all hyped up.
He paid at the register, then exited the store from the door opposite of the donut shop. It was likely because subconsciously visions of Woo were playing in his head. He walked down the dark, tree-lined walkway behind the United Bank and leaped over the short concrete wall that encircled the bank.
Beyond the wall, there was a sharp inclined embankment that made it difficult to keep his footing. He kept his head down to try to avoid the many broken branches that cluttered the small terrain. As Sparkle made his way, he slipped a couple of times as he fought to maintain his balance. He paused to examine his hands for cuts and bruises and looked over the wall when he heard and then saw ‘B’ and Rainbow as they were getting out of the car.
He opened his mouth to shout out to them but froze when he saw three ominous figures getting out of an SUV. He squinted his eyes to get a clearer look, as a tingling sensation of pending danger began to pound along the back of his neck.
The flickering shadows caused by the dimly lit moon rays, fighting through the wind-blown leaves of the surrounding foliage of trees, made the scene appear surreal. Their movements were herky- jerky, like they were moving in slow motion.
At first glance it seemed like one of them was holding a cane or thick fishing rod, but his heart told him better; his instincts sharpening. So he followed his instincts, that had saved him so many times in the past, and bent down to car hood level after he crawled over the wall. He started creeping along the cars. In case his eyes and mind weren’t playing tricks on him, he laid the bag beside one of the cars and pulled out his gun. When he carefully chambered a round, the sound seemed to be so loud that it caused him to cringe, but it was only in his own mind. It didn’t appear that ‘B’ or Rainbow was aware of any of it by the way they headed toward the hotel without even turning around. The trio of stalkers split up and started creeping between different cars silently. His adrenaline rush went into overdrive when the stalkers picked up speed and then one of them called out to his boys.
W
hen they had first picked up speed, Sparkle raised his gun over the hood of the car and had actually started to squeeze the trigger, when they slowed down. Because they had yet to raise their own weapons, he waited anxiously as ‘B’ and Rainbow turned around to the sound of the voices calling out to them.
Even in the dim lighting, he could read the shocked look on their faces as they spun to face the menacing sound. Sparkle blinked a couple of times in shock himself when he recognized the voice of the guy who had called out to them. The familiarity of the voice was probably the only thing that kept his boys from opening up fire themselves. ‘B’ choked out in a hoarse voice, “Joker, what the fuck you doing, man?”
He was followed immediately by Rainbow’s sneering grit. “Baby boy, I know damn well that you ain’t behind this shit.”
Stackadime and Chopper joined Joker’s side with their guns hanging loosely but anxiously at their hips. Stack bit down on his lower lip and smiled before he spat, “Looka here, soldier, y’all know what the deal is.” He cocked the sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun to emphasize his deadly intent. “Y’all ripped off my main man and the only deal is that you give up your spots to reimburse the Black Don or you die, right here, right now. It’s as simple as that, dog.”
Rainbow, showing no signs of fear, ignored Stack totally and directed his full attention toward Joker. “Baby boy, we’ve been looking out for your ass since snot was bubbling out of your nose. You’ve got to be bullshitting me on this one here, for sure.”
No sooner had the last syllable rolled off of his tongue than Stack fired a shot, re-cocked and fired another shot at their feet, digging up globs of pavement. The resounding boom was so loud and sudden that it even stunned Sparkle and shockwaves ran down his spine.
