by Unknown
CHAPTER 18
PLAYING CHESS
Sitting in a recliner in his living room, Trion was playing with his son as the news flashes from the screen at the meat market crossed the screen. Walking into the living room in a pair of gym shorts and a sports bra, Tasha sat down on the couch and crossed her legs Indian style as she looked at the news.
“Oh my god... Trion please tell me that’s not Carlos and Smoke’s cars parked outside of that building ...”
With a tired look in his eyes, Trion looked at Tasha.
“Yeah Bae. They're good though.”
All though Trion hoped that his words were true, there was stress his voice, and Tasha detected it. Deep in her soul, Tasha knew that things would get worse before they got better, but she prayed that her family would survive the storm.
Hearing his phone ring, Trion picked it up and looked at the screen. Seeing that it was Smoke, he handed his son to Tasha and stepped out into the balcony of their beautiful new tri level mini mansions before answering.
“Yo what up dawg, y’all good?”
“Yeah cuz, we're good. I just wanted to give you the business on the shop.”
Wanting to get all of the details, Trion just listened as Smoke gave him the rundown.
“Dawg we had to go to plan B because we were being followed, we found out two things though. Zion is back in town and has been the one behind our spots getting hit, and Lawson is knee deep in our shit thanks to Fat Freddy's snitching ass. We tucked him in though. He won't be waking up no time soon.”
Hearing that the business with Fat Freddy was taken care of was a relief because in truth, he knew too much about family business to be allowed to live and talk to the cops. After hanging up with Smoke, Trion lit up a blunt of kush and sat on the balcony under the stars contemplating his next move.
As he thought to himself, Jago’s words of wisdom came to mind.
“Youth wen faced wit two evils dat come against you, find a way to use one to cancel de oda. Choose your moves wisely. Never allow de oda players to control de game by insisting you expose your hand. Jah bless young king ...”
Hearing the sliding door to the balcony open, Trion new it was Tasha, and that she was worried. Walking around to the front of Trion’s chair, Tasha straddled his lap facing him, and placed her arms around his neck looking intently into his eyes. Staring into the depths of the soul of the man she loved, Tasha could see all the love, pain, hope, and disappointment that he held inside.
Massaging his shoulders, Tasha could feel a lifetime of tension bundled up under his tight muscles. Kissing Trion softly on his lips, she silently wished that she could kiss his pain away, but the truth of the matter was evident; this story may not have a perfect ending. Knowing that his pain was her pain, Trion wanted to sooth her anxiety so as Tasha straddled across his lap, he wrapped his arms around her waist and slid his tongue in her mouth.
Beginning to feel that familiar throbbing sensation in her clit, she began to slow grind in his lap as she grabbed his dreads and kissed him passionately. Unbuckling his jeans, Tasha reached inside of his boxers and grabbed his erect manhood, stroking it slowly while still engulfed in their kiss. Exploring her thick thighs, his hands made their way up to the plump patch between her legs.
Pushing her gym shorts to the side, he was greeted by the warm moistness of her wet pussy. Slipping his fingers inside of her slippery walls, he found her clit and began to work his magic. Every time Tasha was about to culm, he pulled his fingers out and lightly patted her pussy lips teasing her orgasm. Finally, unable to take any more torcher, Tasha pulled his manhood inside of her and gripped it tightly as she rode him until they both exploded in a heat of passion…
After a long night of pleasure and pain, she woke up to find that Trion was gone. Rolling over, she caught a glimpse of the white sticky note that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. Leaning over, Tasha grabbed the note off of the table and began reading.
“Good morning beautiful. I had to get up and out early this morning to iron out a few things, but I didn't want to wake you. I should be done by this afternoon, so I'll stop by your shop and bring you lunch. Love, Trion...”
Rolling onto her back, she smiled before putting a pillow over her face and screaming in joy. Last night had been amazing, and today was off to a good start. After calling her assistant, she got up, took a shower; and got her son dressed to impress. The ladies at the shop loved Jr, and he loved their attention. Grabbing her keys, she and Jr were out the door, and on their way.
Hanging up with Tasha, Kesha made a call to her latest love interest. In the last few weeks, he had shown her the finer things in life and had shed light on the fact that Tasha treated her more like a flunky than a friend. Poisoned reinforcements to accompany her own insecurities was more than enough to get Kesha to see things his way.
Speaking seductively into the receiver, Keisha greeted her prince charming.
“Hey baby... I have that information that you asked for.”
Smiling into the receiver, Kesha’s lover continued his game of chess with a level of expertise that was unmatched.
“Now say beautiful, tell me someting dat will make me smile ...”
Eager to please her new love, Kesha gave him the exact time Tasha would be arriving at work, the model and color of her car, and the address to the shop. Now equipped with the information he needed, the man of Kesha’s dreams hung up the phone without another word, and was on his way to his date with fate.
Being that he had a few hours to spare, for good measures, he set part two of his plan in motion. Picking up his throw away cell phone, Kesha’s king looked at the card that was given to him by an old acquaintance that he had met some years ago; and dialed the numbers. Answering the phone, detective Lawson spoke briskly, frustrated by the dead ends in his investigation into Trion’s crime Family.
“Hello... This is detected Lawson; how can I help you?”
Speaking in a disgusted tone, the caller addressed the detective.
“Mr. Lawson, if you want to solve de little case that you're working on, shut up and listen. Trions two right hand men are at one of their major stash houses in de warehouse district of Port Tampa as we speak. It is an open and shut case. Money, guns, and drugs. Don't miss dis opportunity detective ...”
After giving the detective the address, the caller abruptly disconnected the call. Revenge as they say, is a dish best served cold. If everything went according to plan, it was about to be a blizzard in the streets of Tampa.
Placing his cell phone back on his desk, detective Lawson leaned back in his chair and analyzed the information that had just been given. Although he had a hunch that the information was accurate, something about this call felt like a setup. After a few moments of reflection, detective Lawson finally bit the bait. The opportunity was too good to let it pass.
When Detective Lawson was first introduced to this case, he had no consideration or regard for the young crime boss Trion, but after the last few months of investigation, he had found a certain level of respect for the young man that the streets knew as Tampa Black…
Nevertheless, he had a job to do, and by all means, he had his mind set on doing it. Picking up his phone, he notified the leading agents of his small tactical squad, briefing them on the new intel. Within thirty minutes a twenty-man tactical squad led by detective Lawson was fully geared up in mobile, headed to Port Tampa.
On the other side of town, Trion gave last minute instructions to a few of his guys in a discrete condo.
“I need all of you to listen dawg. All operations are to be shut down. Nothing illegal is to move in this city that is attached to The Family. All documents and traces of our footprints are to be clean within the hour. Our inside guy just told me that a tactical squad has just been deployed to hit our spot in Port Tampa. I tried to call Smoke and Los, but I didn't get an answer.”
Looking at one of his faithful soldiers, Trion spoke in a flat tone.
“Geno tak
e a few of your guys with you and let Smoke and Carlos know what the move is... Geno don't let nothing happen to my little cousins’ dawg. If they don't make it out alive, nobody makes it out alive …”
CHAPTER 19
THE RAID
Sitting in a fold up chair in the corner of the count room in the Port Tampa count house, Smoke was watching the money machine calculate currency while smoking a Cuban cigar filled with kush and cocaine. The machine was only a third of the way through the pile of duffle bags filled with money, and the account was already two point five million dollars. As Smoke exhaled a thick cloud of potent smoke, he thought back to a time when this type of money was just a dream. Only three years prior to Trion bringing him to the teams, Smoke and Carlos were selling small arms that they had savaged from local pawn shops, and nickel and diming to make ends meet.
Smoke would always be thankful to his older cousin for giving him a shot at the big leagues of Tampa’s underworld, and he would protect The Family with his life when the time came. As the money machine stopped marking the end of its load, Smoke refilled the machine before sitting in front of the security monitors; surveying a five-mile radius around the property. Paranoia was always a force of habit while handling business, and today was no different. There was an omen in the air for some reason, and all though he couldn't visibly see anything out of place; Smoke couldn't shake the feeling.
As the workers came in and out transporting money from the room through the tunnel and into the waiting boats, Smoke’s phone was losing service; so he picked up the satellite phone to call Carlos. When the answering machine picked up, Smoke lost his cool.
“Dawg what the fuck are you doing? You got a nigga doing all the work while you're out somewhere tricking off? Get at me when you get this message dawg. ‘I’m moving the money, something don't feel right...”
Disconnecting the call, Smoke and his team went back to business.
With only a ten-man skeleton crew, the members of The Family had to work strategically to get the money counted, packed, and loaded on the boats for shipping. Although the operation was routine, everyone was on edge, so they were in overdrive trying to get the job done.
On the other side of town, exploding inside of his latest conquest; Carlos rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed. Knowing that he was cutting it close to the time for his arrival at the docks, he reached over and grabbed his watch off of the nightstand and check the time. Seeing that he was late, reality began to set in.
“Damn!”
Jumping up and putting his clothes on, Carlos was out of the door before his female companion could contest... Pulling out of the driveway Carlos turned on his phone, and instantly became annoyed when the flood of messages and voicemails began to pop up and clutter his screen...
“Fuck!”
Opting not to wrestle with a million messages, Carlos pressed ignore, he turned up the volume on his system and headed to the count house. Although his little Dominican jump off had just thoroughly put it on him, something in the air just didn't seem right. The closer he got to the spot, the stronger the feeling got... Trying to shake the growing anxiety, he pushed his speed up to 80 mph and zipped through the afternoon traffic.
As detected Lawson’s tactical team pulled into Port Tampa in unmarked cars, they spread a two miles’ perimeter around the address that he had been given; and concealed themselves. Waiting for any tell sign that this was the right place, detective Lawson ordered his troops to stand down and stay alert. He knew that this may be his last chance to seal the case, and get the promotion that he deserved, and wanted it...
About two and a half miles from the count house, Carlos begin to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Passing through the invisible perimeter that detective Lawson had established, Carlos had unknowingly just drove into a Venus flytrap. As the report that the secondary target had arrived into the hot zone came across the air waves, detective Lawson and acknowledged his arrival and called for radio silence, as he continued to monitor the count house.
Stepping outside of a side door of the house, one of The Family’s soldiers noticed a figure dressed in all black crouching down on the roof top of a building across the street. Seeing that he had a rifle instantly sent his adrenaline rushing through his veins, so he grabbed the A.R.-15 that was strapped to his back and opened fire. Once the sound of gunfire pierces the air, all hell broke loose. The sniper on the rooftop got a chunk of flesh knocked out of his face only seconds before his shooter was ripped apart by another sharp shooters gun fire. As his bullet ridden body slumped to the ground, blood begin to pour from the multiple gunshot wounds in his body.
Losing the element of surprise, the detective ordered a unit to detain Carlos before he could join the gunfire or get away. Before signing off, the detective Lawson also gave orders for the rest of his units to storm the count house and secure everything in it. Little did he know, that would be easier said than done. His team had jumped the gun on the bust, and now they were going to pay for their mistake.
As the unmarked car pulled up and got behind Carlos, he looked in his rear view mirror and shook his head...
“Damn.”
Placing his pistol and cell phone into a hidden compartment, Carlos pulled over knowing that he was clean. Getting out of his car with his gun in his hand, the agent extracted Carlos from the vehicle, cuffed him, and put him in the back of his cruiser. Radioing Lawson, the agent notified him that the suspect was in custody.
Storming through the front garage of the count house, three of the agents were immediately dismembered by the vicious gunfire of Geno's A. K-47. As the fireworks began, men on both sides we're gunned down in the mayhem of gunfire. Firing at the incoming agents, Smoke strapped a duffel bag of uncounted money to his back, and made his way to the waiting boat at the dock outback.
Stepping from behind a pillar in Geno’s blind spot, an agent open fire causing Geno's chest cavity to explode on contact. As his limp body hit the ground, the last glimpse of life left his eyes as the agents stepped over his corpse in pursuit of Smoke. Wading through the sea of bloody bodies, detective Lawson covered his agents as they approached the docks.
Breathing heavily, Smoke began to throw the bags of money into the speed boat. Just as the last bag hit the floor of the waiting vessel, gunfire erupted behind him. As one of the loaded speedboats speeded off into the depths of the harbor, Smoke took cover behind a few nearby crates... Large chunks of wood were knocked out of the corner of a wooden crate inches from his face, as he glanced over at the waiting boat just in time to see its driver get gunned down in a hail of semi-automatic gunfire.
Smoke had promised himself a long time ago that he would hold court in the streets and die like a man before he would allow himself to rot away and die in a cage like an animal. As time seemed to stand still, nothing could be heard as Smoke wondered if God was real. His father had been murdered in prison a year after he was born, and his mother had died from a drug overdose when he was ten. At this moment he didn't know what was waiting on the other side, but if it was meant to be; he was about to find out.
Taking a deep breath, Smoke rolled from behind the wooden crates with military precision letting off four quick rounds buckling one of the agents in half as he dashed to the waiting boat. Ducking behind a wall, detective Lawson took aim at his target. Releasing two quick rounds into Smoke’s back, the detective watched as Smoke’s momentum carried him face first into the floor of the boat. As the breaking news hit the air, the streets of Tampa were in shock. Yet another young street legend was lost to the game…
CHAPTER 20
CHECKMATE
Pulling up at her shop, Tasha parked next to Kesha’s purple BMW convertible. Wondering how her assistant could afford to rent so many exotic cars back to back, Tasha thought to herself how Kesha had shared some of the trifling things she did for money. Kesha's motto was,
“luxury aint free, so everybody has to pay to play. Weather its paper, or pussy; it's all the s
ame game ...”
Smiling to herself while shaking her head, Tasha got her son out of the car, and made her way inside.
When Tasha stepped into the shop, Kesha had just finished up a client’s head, and sat down to answer the phone. The dark clouds in the sky had just begin to relieve its burden as the heavy rain fell from its canopy. Teasing little Trion, Kesha picked him up and kissed him on the cheek.
“Hey cutie! Come on, let's go plug the video games up in the back so I can get off my feet for a minute. You want to go with Auntie?”
Smiling and giggling at the thought of playing video games, Jr. was more than willing to disappear into the back lounge with Kesha.
As Tasha sat down at her desk to look over her inventory sheets, a familiar face walked in out of the rain with a sick grin. Frozen by fear, Tasha was unable to speak or move as Zion stepped in front of her desk and pulled out the chrome 45 that he had concealed in his waistband.
“Why are you so surprised to see me beautiful?...
You had to have known dat we would run into each oda again... Oh, I get it, you thought your little pussy clot boyfriend would kill me first...”
Walking around Tasha’s desk, Zion slapped her across the face with the cold steal of his barrel before snatching her up to her feet by her hair. As blood begin to seep from the wound over her eye that the pistol had just created, Tasha stifled her scream; praying that Jr. wouldn't hear what was going on. Walking back into the lobby, Kesha saw what was transpiring and smirked. As her and Tasha locked eyes, Kesha smiled like she had just won the lottery.
“Oh I see you met my man huh Tash? ...”
Looking confused, Tasha struggled to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It wasn't long before she figured out that she has been set up. Looking at Kesha with death in her eyes, Tasha spit in her face before speaking.
