by Shan
I needed to know how long I had before I would be out of money. I also wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help Tamar out while he was down. The streets were drying up all over again due to his absence. I would hate to see someone come in and take his place.
"That just can't happen," I said bringing my thoughts to life. Tamar was the only one to ever give me a chance at making some real bread.
"What can't fuckin' happen?" Passion asked aggressively.
I shook my head and hurriedly pulled down the street where her house was located. She needed to get the fuck out of my car and quick before I knock fire from her ass.
Once I placed the car in park in front of her house, I turned away to look out of my window to let her know that she didn't even have to say goodbye to me. I was good on that.
Chapter 4
Rozalyn
Wonder Woman
The way you talkin' girl you seem so invincible
It's more than sexy girl the way you take control
I wonder are you my kinda woman
With a back like that you fly like jets are you my wonder woman
~Trey Songz~
The summer heat seemed to be close to what it would be if I was in hell. I swear I ain't never been so hot in my damn life. No matter how little I wore, I still seemed to sweat the same amount.
My legs were always sticking together, and my hair never looked worth anything at the end of the day. It was only the second week of June, and I could tell that with each day that came that it was only going to get hotter and hotter.
"This is the last one," I said as I tossed the duffle bag onto the floor with the other four that I pulled out of my car.
I looked around nervously and then turned back to face Rico. Fanning myself with my hand, I attempted to catch some of the cool air that I felt coming from inside of Rico's house. He was sitting up under a huge shaded gazebo that was located in the back of his house and right by the pool.
"Caesar, come and count this," Rico said as he waved over one of his men.
As soon as he looked up at me, I quickly shot my stare to the ground. Ever since the first day he'd bombarded his way into my home, I'd noticed the way he stared at me. It was almost as if he was drooling at the mouth; yearning to taste me. With his thirsty ass.
I watched as the guy Caesar, opened up the first duffle and then looked at Rico with a frown. The two of them had words that I was unable to hear or even make out. I tapped my feet nervously against the concrete, ready to get back home to the kids, and away from this shit.
I'd transported over two hundred and fifty kilos of coke in the trunk of a rented Chrysler 300 with my kids in the backseat, all the way to fuckin' Miami. Every time I saw a damn police car, I almost pissed on my damn self.
With that much weight, I was looking at doing several life sentences if I had been caught. I don't know how the fuck Tamar did that shit from day to day, but after this, I learned just how much he'd been risking his life for us.
Rico looked at me, licked his lips, and laughed. "This was a nice gesture for you to bring me back my product, but I don't want it back. I want my money, all two and a half million dollars of it."
"Okay, but this is all of it. Black said that Tamar hadn't gotten a chance to do anything with it yet because of what happened to him. Can't you just take it back, and we settle the debt right here and right now? Give it to somebody else to sell."
"No, I cannot just take it back. Tamar made a verbal agreement with me to move two hundred and fifty kilos of my coke every month, and it's been three months and he hasn't done shit."
"He damn near died and you know that. What am I supposed to do? He can get you the money when he's back to himself, but as of right now here is your stuff."
Rico laughed again and said a few words in Spanish to his partners. They all suddenly cracked up at whatever he said, and then the guy Caesar walked over to me. He held his hand out in front of me, and I looked down at it as if it was filled with a pile of shit.
"Your keys?" he said and nodded his head at the keys that I had dangling in my hand.
"For what?"
"He's going to take this back to the car for you. I'll give you a week to figure out what to do with it," Rico said as he grabbed his bottle of water and took a sip from it.
He reached over and grabbed his huge Cuban cigar from the ashtray and one of his men rushed over to light it for him.
"Look, I took a big ass risk by driving all the way here with that shit and my kids in the car. I cannot take that back with me. Please!" I begged.
"Sorry, but we had an agreement. I know that Tamar has the money, so just give me my money, and you will never hear from me again."
"I told you that I do not have access to Tamar's money. What don't you understand about that?"
This situation right here let me know that I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. Every time Tamar gave me any money, I did my best to save most of it. And when I was working and on my own, I made sure to add as much to my savings as I possibly could.
It was how I was able to do the things such as getting the construction started on my shop down here in Miami and start the shop up in Dallas. At the time, I just knew that I was doing something that most wives of hustlers failed to do.
I had a rainy day fund stacked to the nines, but it took this to make me realize that I wasn’t doing shit and that I didn't know my fuckin' husband like I thought I did.
I didn't have a clue as to where Tamar kept his money or even how much he had. I searched high and low through every single piece of paperwork I was able to find looking for some type of bank account number—hell or just the name of the bank.
There wasn't any kind of paper trail that led me to believe that Tamar had any money, but I knew that was a lie. He had his safe moved a while back, and the little stash place he sent me to the last time to get money for Taron was of course wiped out.
No one knew where Tamar kept his dough, but him, and me being his wife—that shit just didn't look right. I should at least know where to go in case of an emergency—such as this emergency situation.
"So, what do we do, Mrs. Andrews? I can't seem to find your husband, you claim to not know where he is, and you claim to not have access to his money. Yet you live in that big pretty house. Somewhere in there, I smell a lie."
I shook my head because I knew it all sounded like I was speaking a bunch of bullshit, but it was all the truth. I didn't know how our bills got paid every month, but I knew that they got paid with no problems.
Tamar always gave me money for the groceries, money for the kids' needs, and money for me. I never asked any questions, but boy was I regretting not doing so.
"I'm not lying to you Mr. Rico. It's all the truth. Please, you gotta believe me. I don't know what else to tell you. I haven’t talked to my husband in three whole months. I don't know where he is.
All I know is that one minute he was dying in front me, the next he was being rushed the hospital, and then the next thing I know he's gone—he vanished," I said and suddenly tears escaped the corners of my eyes.
I was not supposed to get emotional in front of all these men, but I was so fuckin' scared. Everything going on had me feeling a little unsafe.
Every time Tamar had been hurt, he'd always pulled through, and I always had another chance with him, but nope not this time. He was gone, and I had a feeling that I was never going to see him again.
Black supposedly knew where he was, but he wouldn't even grant me the privilege of seeing him for myself. If I could only take a look at Tamar and see that he was breathing, I would feel a whole lot better.
Rico stood from his comfortable pool chair and walked over to me. He stood only inches from me and then wrapped his arms around the lower half of my body. I brought my hand up to push him away, but the grip he held around me was too tight to escape from. His tongue entered my ear, and my body shuttered as cold chills ran down my spine.
"Tamar leaves you at home like this often? If
you were my wife, I could find plenty of reasons to never leave your side. I'm sure I would spend most of my time tasting your sweet little pussy."
"Get off of me!" I grunted and tried once again to push him away.
"Spend a week with me and I will wash the debt away. You take the coke back where you got it from. One little week—seven whole days."
I pushed Rico away as he finally released the hold that he had around my body. He bit down on his bottom lip and practically raped me with his eyes as I backed away from him. Don’t know what the fuck he thought this was, but I wouldn't spend a fuckin' day with him let alone a fuckin' week.
"How long do I have to get rid of the coke?" I asked because fucking him was not an option.
"One week, but wouldn't you like to have one week with me instead?" Rico laughed as I turned around and stormed off of his property.
Shit, how the fuck was I supposed to get rid of two hundred and fifty damn bricks of cocaine. I didn't know anything about this shit.
***
I pulled the Chrysler into the driveway, placed it in park, and quickly hopped out. I made my way up to the door and rang the doorbell repeatedly and then crossed my arms over my chest as I waited for someone to answer.
Moments later, the door swung open, and my brother Kevin stood on the other side with a surprised look on his face. He shook his head, smiled and then pulled me in for a hug. I hadn't seen him in a while and seeing his face brought me a little comfort.
"Damn, what's up kid? I thought you forgot all about your big bro. You good ma?"
I sighed and shook my head no. I hated that the first time I visited him in a while, was when I had my plate filled with bullshit, but at this point; I didn't have any other choice.
I didn't trust anyone else with this issue and truthfully there wasn't anyone else I could call. Taron was locked up on them fed charges and that bitch Black would never get another call from me. Something felt real shady about him and for now, I was going to keep my distance from him, and I wanted him do the same.
I went inside of Kevin's home, played with my nephew Kevin Jr. aka K.J. for a little while and then told Kevin and Kayla everything that was going on. They knew that Tamar had been stabbed and shot, and like me they thought he was somewhere hiding out until he healed from his injuries.
Black had us all fooled and the more I thought about this shit, the less and less I began to trust him.
What if he killed Tamar and dumped his body some damn where? But why would he do that? Why would he keep coming around if he did that? Maybe he thinks he can get close to Tamar's money. I don't know; he probably knew more about Tamar's money than I did. Hell he was the one that told me where to find the drugs. Shit! Ughh, I was so fuckin' confused.!
"So you got a couple of life sentences sitting in the trunk of your car right now? What the fuck were you thinking Roz?" Kevin asked the moment I finished explaining everything to him.
"I thought that I was gonna give this man his shit back and that he was gonna leave me the fuck alone. Kevin he knows where I live at. He came to see me with his fuckin goon squad, and that let me know that me and kids are not safe. Are you gonna help me or not?"
Kevin scooted to the edge of the chair that he was sitting in and raised his pants leg. The little black box that was wrapped around his ankle caused my heart to sink. I shook my head and willed myself not to get too upset. This just can't be life.
Chapter 5
Jamir
Hard to Say Goodbye
I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through
~Boyz II Men~
I sat in the chair located behind the booth, waiting for the correctional officer to bring Erica out to see me. She would be transported to the Lockhart Correctional Facility in a few days, and I figured I would pay her visit before that happened.
I hadn't really talked to her since all this shit went down, but she'd been on my mind ever since I saw her in the courtroom a couple of days ago. I didn't really know what I wanted to say to her, but I did want her to know that I had her back through what I knew was going to be a difficult time for her.
We might never be lovers again, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't abandon the mother of my child. I had to let her know that I was in her corner, even if it was going to be from a distance.
After a few minutes of waiting, I spotted a door opening from the corner of my eyes and could see Erica's round stomach before I could see anything else. Every time I saw her in that clown suit, it caused anger to form inside of me. This was not a story that I wanted to tell my daughter when she'd gotten older. How do you explain to a child that their mother had to be tied down to the bed and forced to deliver them? This conversation would be a tough one, but if our daughter ever wanted to know the truth, I would tell her.
Damn, why did she have to put us in this situation? I thought the moment Erica reached me.
She sat down and reached for the phone. I gritted my teeth as I noticed her right eye was swollen to the point that she couldn't even open it. Her jaw was bruised and swollen, as well.
This was not the place for a chick like Erica. She was too smart for this jail bird shit. She had her head on straight and had a very promising future ahead of her. Seeing her all bruised up like this reminded me of how little she knew about the streets.
She was hardly ever out and about and kept her head glued to them school books. She never got into any real catfights with any girls, and she kept her nose clean as often as possible.
She had to toughen up though or else for the next two to three years bitches was gonna fuck with her 'till the very day she was free. Sad part was them hoes didn't even care that she was carrying a damn baby.
"What the fuck happened to you?" I asked Erica once she placed the phone to her ear.
She shook her head, and a stream of tears fled from her eyes. It was as if she'd been holding onto them for a very long time because they were never-ending. She placed her hand over her mouth and silently cried for a few moments before finally speaking into the phone.
"These chicks jumped me the same day I was sentenced. They said that I was snitching and that as soon as I have the baby, I was dead."
"What the fuck they mean snitching? Who were they?" I asked her and had to calm myself down and remember where the hell I was.
"I think they with the dude that you started working for, Tamar. They just kept saying that I was a snitch and that they will see to it that I was dead when I drop the baby. I thought I was gonna lose her.
They just kept hitting me and hitting me, and it took at least five minutes before the guards made it to me to even break it up. I just came back from the hospital this morning. They monitored me down at Parkland overnight and brought me back a little while ago," Erica explained as she wiped her face with the back of her free hand.
"When are you going to Lockhart? And why don't they have you separated from the rest of the inmates since you're pregnant?"
"My lawyer fixed it so that I could stay here until after the baby is born so that I can actually deliver in a hospital and not in some jail infirmary. I come back here after I give birth and then they will transport me a few weeks later, but I'll be dead before any of that happens. It's bad enough that I'm gonna miss out on the first few years of her life, but now I'm gonna miss her entire existence."
"Let me ask you though, E. Did you say something to them about my youngn'?" I asked suddenly feeling a little uneasy about all this. Why would anyone believe that she was snitching? That shit wasn't making any sense to me.
Erica took her stare away from me and nodded her head yes. I sighed and rubbed the top of my head with my freehand. I looked around before looking back at Erica watching as she looked around nervously, as well.
She shook her head as tears escaped from her eyes and looked up at me. I wanted to know what she'd told the authorities about my bro. I needed t
o know if he was possibly looking at jail time and if I needed to get a lawyer ready for him in case the police did come knocking.
"What did you tell them, E?"
"I told them what I knew about DeAngelo's murder and they wasn't trying to hear me until I mention that guy Tamar's name and then they suddenly were all ears. There were so many people in the room with me all of a sudden with pens and pads, and they kept asking me about that guy."
"Oh, fuck E, no. What did you tell them?"
"Everything that you ever told me or everything I that I ever overheard you saying. Jamir, this is my life we're talking about. I was scared, and I didn't want to have my baby behind bars.
You and Justice put me in this situation and left me with no choice. The police were supposed to pick him up the same day that I shot Justice…they told me that they were gonna have somebody pick him up on suspicion of ordering the murder of DeAngelo," Erica sighed and looked around again.
Her voice was low, and she was trying to keep anyone from overhearing her. I really couldn't believe my fucking ears. I now knew why Black was refusing to answer my calls and was brushing me off every time I did talk to him.
He probably thought I had something to do with this shit. Damn, it was bad enough that Erica almost killed Justice now she was snitching on my fucking boss. Where the fuck they do that shit at?
"When I asked the lead agent this morning before I left the hospital, he told me that the same day that they went to pick Tamar up, somebody had tried to kill him and that they would have to put their investigation on hold because he had disappeared shortly after. They said they were watching his house for a month straight, but were ordered off of it by their boss.
Now I gotta sit here until they prove everything I told them, and I'm a fuckin' be dead by then. I know that I am. Jamir, how does somebody know that I said anything? They were supposed to keep that information confidential. That's what they told me."
I shook my head, "E, you supposed to know how the game goes ma'. I just wished you would've listened to me when I tried to teach you everything. But even then, I know you've seen enough gangsta movies to know how it goes.
