Against the Grain (24 page)

28

Later, that same night, Kay sent Big Duke’s cousins with Nut to kick in a few doors to some of Mike’s DL spots. They had the green light to kill anyone that gave them problems, and they were to call Kay as soon as they found Mike. Kay and Big Duke were also looking for Mike. Kay needed to make a phone call. He’d left his cell phone in his car and he knew he couldn’t call Officer Ayala from Big Duke’s cell phone, so he told Big Duke to stop at a phone booth in front of 7-Eleven on the corner of Eutaw and Saratoga.

“I ain’t seen one of them shits in a while,” Big Duke said in his slow drawl.

“Yeah, I know, right. I thought all them shits had been taken up,” Kay said as he got out to make his call.

Big Duke turned the music up and bobbed his head up and down. He didn’t notice the car that passed them on the other side of the street making a U-turn and pulling up two cars behind them. Kay had his back turned so he didn’t see the car either. Three guys dressed in all-black hoodies got out the car. The driver stayed in the car with the engine running. The three guys dressed in black walked toward Kay. Two of them walked right past him and rounded the corner. The third guy stopped, looked at Kay, then walked into 7-Eleven. This strange action caught Big Duke’s attention. He noticed that all three were dressed alike, which meant that they were probably together. Why did they separate? Why did the one that went in the store stop and look at Kay like that? That was a sign that they were up to something.
Maybe they’re getting ready to rob the store,
Big Duke thought. He pulled his gun and cocked it so that there was a bullet in the chamber then got out his truck. He put his back against the driver’s-side door and looked up and down the street to make sure a cop didn’t ride up on him with his gun in his hand. He peeped around the windshield of his truck. Kay was still in the phone booth with his back turned.

The driver of the car eased out of the car and pulled his gun. Mike tiptoed up on Big Duke and shot him in the back of the head. At the sound of the gunshot, Kay jumped and turned around. The first guy ran out the store and opened fire on Kay. The other two came around the corner and also opened fire into the phone booth. A few shots hit Kay in the chest and backed him into the booth. He dropped the receiver and pulled out the gun Big Duke had given him for his birthday. Glass flew everywhere as Kay returned fire. His first shot hit one of the niggaz that came around the corner in the head. He opened the phone booth door and stumbled out, shooting the one that came out the store in the face twice. The third gunman shot Kay in the back, knocking him to the ground. He ran past Kay after taking care of his business and jumped in the car with Mike. Mike pulled away from the curb and sped away. He thought to himself,
Yeah, I knew I was going to get that bitch-ass nigga Duke.
Mike had to drop his man off somewhere and hurry up and get home, so that he would be with Lyniece when she got the phone call about her brother’s death.

The clerk in the store ran outside. She wanted to get a good look at the dead bodies before the cops got there. When she got to the body lying on the sidewalk closest to the door she recognized him immediately. She bent down to check Kay’s pulse. And when she did, he grabbed her hand, almost scaring her to death. The 7-Eleven clerk screamed. Kay asked her to help him up. He looked around for Big Duke but didn’t see him. They heard police sirens getting closer.

Kay looked at shorty and whispered, “I wasn’t here, aiight?”

“I didn’t see anything, Kay.”

Kay winked at her and stumbled around to the driver’s side of the truck where he found his friend’s dead body on the ground. Big Duke’s forehead was missing. Kay didn’t want to leave his body lying in the street, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He jumped in Big Duke’s truck and drove off. When he got a few blocks away, he took off his black leather jacket and then took off the bulletproof vest that Big Duke had made him put on that night. He looked at the vest as he threw it in the passenger seat.

“Thanks, Big Guy,” he said out loud as he drove on.

29

Kay stopped a few yards away from Mike’s house and opened the secret compartment in the truck by holding in the lighter and rolling down the driver’s-side window at the same time. He removed two extra clips. He put one in his gun and pulled the slide back, putting a bullet in the chamber. He stuck the other loaded clip in his pocket, and walked to the back of the house and looked through the window. Lyniece was doing something in the kitchen. Kay tapped on the back door and she smiled when she saw Kay outside the window.

“Boy, what are you doing out there? Is something wrong?” she asked him as she opened the door to let him in. He kissed her on the cheek.

“Nah, girl, everything aiight. Where T-Kie at?”

“She’s sleep, thank god. That girl has too much energy for me. She fell asleep while I was on the phone with Shu-Shu. You want a sandwich? I was just making one for me and Mike.” Kay shook his head no.

“Oh yeah, Shu-Shu was just saying that she’s going to kick your ass if you don’t hurry up and bring your ass home. She said that you’re supposed to bring her some Breyers vanilla ice cream and Trix cereal.”

“Damn, it was like five o’clock when I told her that shit. I’m glad you said something because I forgot,” Kay said.

“I think her ass is pregnant, eating all that crazy shit.”

“Nah, she ain’t pregnant. She been eating that shit since we met.”

“Well, why has she been sleeping so much and getting sick?” Lyniece asked as she headed out the kitchen with two sandwiches and two glasses of juice on a tray.

“Maybe she been working too hard,” Kay said to her back.

“You don’t believe that dumb shit,” she said, walking upstairs.

“Yo, tell Mike to come down here for a minute. I need to talk to him; it’s very important.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget that girl’s stuff. I love you.” Lyniece disappeared upstairs.

“I love you, too,” Kay said, but doubted if she heard him. Within a minute, Mike was downstairs, face-to-face with Kay.

“Yo, you wasn’t expecting to see me here tonight, was you?”

“Nah, not really,” Mike said.

“You killed Big Duke?”

“You killed Gee?”

“I gave Gee a choice, life or death. He chose life and left town on his own. I didn’t touch him.”

“I had to kill your man Duke. He pulled a gun on me, remember?”

“What the hell is wrong with you? You buggin’ lately. We were a family and you let a few dollars come between us, you greedy motherfucka!” Kay yelled.

“Did you come here alone to tell me this or is Dre’s punk ass somewhere hiding?”

“I’m alone. I had to talk Dre outta coming here to kill you.”

“Hmph, picture that,” Mike said. “Let me tell you something, you bitch-ass nigga. You wouldn’t be shit if it wasn’t for me. I gave you your life back when you came out of prison. Niggaz wasn’t checkin’ for you. You was a fuckin’ dinosaur out here. I held this shit down the whole time you was gone. This is the house that Mike built and the first minute you start smelling yo’self you want to get on some ‘big me, little you’ shit with
me,
nigga?”

“C’mon, man, is that what all this shit is about? You think I’m trying to take over your shit? Nigga, you could’ve had this little-ass city. You deserve it, if that’s all you’re worth. I’m on some international shit, you petty-ass nigga!” Kay yelled again.

There had been enough talking. Both men stared at each other, eye to eye. Mike flinched as he bit down on his bottom lip. Both men pulled their guns and shots were fired.

Shu-Shu was in the shower when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It made her go down on one knee.

Mama was downstairs in the kitchen when she felt that same pain. She dropped her glass of water.

Lil ‘C’ jumped and sat straight up when he felt the pain. They all knew something was wrong.

Mike stood over Kay as he lay on the floor holding his side where he’d been shot. Blood gushed through his fingers as he struggled to get to his feet. Mike kicked Kay’s gun out of reach and yelled, “I told you, nigga! You can’t fuck with me. Look at you all fucked up. Remember when we were kids and we use to play? You always had to be Batman, Superman, Ultra Man, Johnny Sock-O, or whoever. You just had to be the leader. The Fucking Man! Don’t look much like The Fucking Man no more. You too soft, motherfucka! I’m the man! I run this! Don’t nothin’ go on in this city that I don’t instigate or bring to a conclusion. Now I’m about to bring yo ass to a conclusion. Hey, Superman, let me see you dodge this.” Mike pointed the gun at Kay’s head and pulled the trigger.

POP!

Kay pushed Mike’s dead body off of him and saw Lyniece standing there with a gun in her hand and tears running down her face. She helped Kay to his feet.

He looked down on Mike’s body and said, “All is fair in war.”

“Huh?” Lyniece asked.

“Nothin’, I was just thinking about something that Mike said.”

“I’m going to call an ambulance.”

“No!” Kay yelled. “The police will come and lock us up. Just go pack up as much shit as you can and take T-Kie to my house. Don’t mention this to nobody ever! I’ll take care of it.”

Lyniece ran upstairs to do as she was told. Kay called Nut and Big Duke’s cousins. By the time they got there, Lyniece was gone. Kay had to tell them that Mike killed Big Duke. There were no tears but you could tell that they were hurting. If Mike wasn’t already dead, they would have definitely killed his ass. They had to move all the furniture out of the living room and roll Mike’s body up in the carpet. They cleaned the walls where his brains had splattered. Kay was on the phone talking to Shu-Shu, while Nut bandaged his wounds. They weren’t that bad. The bullet went in and out. Kay knew a doctor friend of Shu-Shu’s that would see him in the morning without involving the cops. The cousins searched the house and found the huge closet safe opened. Lyniece must have left it like that because all the money was gone. The only thing in there was a lot of paperwork, like car titles, property titles, mortgage receipts, other bills, and twenty kilos of cocaine. Kay let them keep it. He also gave them the keys to Big Duke’s truck.

“Ya’ll niggas go ahead and bounce back to North Carolina. Me and Nut will take care of the body. And don’t worry about Big Duke; I’ll ship his body down south with a fleet of limos so that ya’ll can give him a proper burial. I’m sending his girl and Lil Duke along, too, so make sure that he knows his father was a soldier.”

30

The next morning when Kay got up, Shu-Shu was getting dressed for work. “Hey, baby. Why are you up so early?” she asked him as he stepped around her in the bathroom to take a leak.

“I’ve got to make some moves and then we’re going to leave town for a while. I’m thinking Atlanta. I’ve got someone looking for a house for us now. You can keep the business in D.C. and open another one down there. After I get rid of the shipment that came in last night, I’m through with this shit. I think I want to open a few strip clubs or start my own record label or something. I’m just tired of this shit,” he said.

Shu-Shu walked up to him and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Are you serious?” she asked with excitement.

He shook his head yeah.

“Baby, I’m so proud of you. I thought you were too caught up in the game to just walk away. I’ll put my manager in charge of daily operations and make the necessary plans to leave. How long will it take you to get rid of everything?”

“I’m not sure. Five hundred kilos came in last night. I’m not even going to cut ’em. I’m just going to sell them to niggaz, lower than regular price.

“I’ll be taking a loss, but fuck it. Our lawyer is holdin’ twenty million for me. I’ve got at least a mil on the streets and that’s not even counting the money I got in the other states. I want you to close down all the restaurants and stores and give all the employees a grand each as a bonus. Call the real estate agent and tell her to put this house up for sale. And my mother’s, too. I also want you to open a trust fund in Lil Duke’s name. I’m going to stop by there this morning to make sure his girl is aiight and to give her money for the funeral. Put twenty grand in the trust fund and no one can touch it but him, when he’s eighteen.”

Then she cut him off. “How about I set it up so that he can have part of it when he’s eighteen to go to college, then only when he’s graduated from college, is when he can get the rest. That’s how I’ve done it for Lil ‘C’, Kaneeka, T-Kie, and Kelli’s trust fund.”

Kay liked what he was hearing. He gave a little smile to show his approval.

“Yeah, do it like that. That’s smart,” he said.

“Anything else?” she asked as she walked out the bathroom in front of him. He popped her on her ass with the back of his hand. She was wearing a cherry red thong with matching bra.

“Nah, that’s it, ma. Just don’t tell anyone our plans,” he said as he pulled her to him.

•         •         •

Kay told Mama, Lyniece, Tramaine, Caleek, and Sonia about the move to Atlanta. They were all with it. After breakfast, he had them all packed and ready to leave. He figured he’d go ahead and send them down, so that they would be safe. They could stay in the Swiss Hotel in Buckhead until Kay and Shu-Shu got there. Everyone had enough cash with them. Plus, Lyniece still had all the money she took out of Mike’s safe stashed in her Navigator. Lyniece, T-Kie, and Kaneeka were in the Navigator. Caleek was in his RX 300 with one of his girlfriends. Tramaine, Pooh, and Kelli were in his LX 470. Sonia, Mama, and Lil ‘C’ were in Kay’s CL 500. Kay walked to the passenger side and gave Mama a kiss.

“Boy, make sure you get that wound looked at,” she told him.

“I will, Mama.”

Lil ‘C’ rolled down the back window, looked at his father and asked, “How long will it take you to come down?” Kay ran his fingers through ‘C’s curly hair, then knelt down to see him eye to eye.

“Me and Shu-Shu will be there in two or three weeks. I’m going to think about you every minute until I’m with you, aiight.”

“I love you, yo,” Lil ‘C’ said to his dad.

“I love you, too, man.” Kay kissed him on the cheek. He looked at Sonia. “Drive safe. If you get tired, pull over and let Mama drive.”

“I know, Arkadian Frost,” Sonia answered with a smile. He stood there and watched as they drove out the front gates.

Kay got in the Bentley Hunadieres and headed for Baltimore. He wanted the city to see the car before he got rid of it. He drove around the city making stops here and there as people admired the exotic ride. He went to see his doctor friend and got his wounds cleaned and stitched. He needed to have a meeting with all his workers, so he told a few of them to get everyone together and meet him at the club in an hour. He stopped at Big Duke’s girl’s house for a minute, then rode around the way. He noticed a police car following him, so he headed downtown to the club. Why the fuck was this cop following him? He had them on the payroll and when he called his shorty, Officer Ayala, last night, she hadn’t said anything about the cops looking for him. He knew that the cops hadn’t found Mike’s body because after he dropped Nut off, he buried the body himself in the basement of one of his stash houses and covered it with cement. Then he dumped the carpet in a Dumpster behind Douglas High School and set it on fire. So what the fuck is going on?
Don’t panic. That’s what Scatter taught me,
he thought. Kay made a left and stopped in front of his club. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the police car keep driving straight. He exhaled and got out the car. He walked to the door and stuck the first key in the lock. Then he heard the screeching sounds of tires stopping. He turned to look and there were two unmarked cars and a van.

“FBI, get down! Get down!” the agents yelled as they jumped out and pulled their guns on Kay. Kay put his hands in the air. They yelled for him to get down again. Kay laid flat on his stomach as he watched Feds run from around the corner and up the block on foot with their guns drawn. There must have been at least fifty of them. They rushed over and put handcuffs on him and stood him up. FBI Agent White walked up to Kay and said, “Arkadian Frost, I have a federal warrant for your arrest. You’re being charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin.” Then he quickly put Kay in the back of an unmarked car. Kay watched from the backseat as Agent White gave instructions to other agents to check the club thoroughly. Kay put his head down as the unmarked car pulled off because he knew that they would find the fifteen kilos of heroin he had stashed in the club. With all the drama going on Kay had gotten careless.

They took Kay to the federal building and put him in a room by himself. After an hour or so Agent White and Agent Powell walked in with their FBI identification cards around their necks. When Kay looked up and saw Agent Powell, he said to her, “What’s up, ma? After I show you a good time at my party, this is how you repay me? I knew you was five-o, bitch. That’s why I didn’t fuck you.” Agent Powell walked over to him and sat on the table, making sure that she was directly in front of him. She hiked her skirt up just a little so that he could see that she wasn’t wearing panties.

“Go ’head, take a good look. This is the last pussy you’ll ever see, nigga. You’re going to wish for many nights that you had this pussy. Cause you’re going away for the rest of your natural life. I promise you that.”

He didn’t say anything. Her last words had cut into him like a knife. Everyone he knew and loved crossed his mind in a split second. Agent White cleared his throat to get his partner’s attention. She eased down off the table and pulled her skirt down. She blew a kiss at Kay and walked around the table and sat down. Agent White sat on the other side of the table. He opened a file and placed pictures of Kay’s whole crew in front of him. Kay looked at the pictures, then back at Agent White.

“I want to know about each one of these people.”

“Get the fuck outta here. I know my rights. You’re not even supposed to be asking me shit without my lawyer being present. Get me to a phone. Let me get my one phone call, I’ll be up out this bitch tonight!” Kay smirked. Agent White took each photo and prepared to put them back in his file one by one. When he opened the file, Kay got a quick glimpse of two pictures he hadn’t pulled out. One was Shu-Shu and the other one was Officer Ayala.
Oh shit!
Kay thought to himself.

“Okay, if that’s how you want to play. Just know that nobody plays hardball the way we do. We don’t play fair, Kay,” Agent White said as he and his partner got up and headed out the door. Powell turned to face Kay when her partner was well ahead of her. She grabbed her breasts with both hands in a seductive manner, looked down at them, and licked her tongue out as if she was licking her own nipples. Then she looked at Kay and smiled as she closed the door behind her.

“Bitch!” Kay said out loud.
What the fuck is going on? They got pictures of everybody. I wonder if they got a picture of Joey? Fuck that! They ain’t got shit on me. They just trying to scare me. I gots dough, they can’t hold me. I’ll find out who told on me when I make bail. Whoever it is, I’m killin’ them and their family. Kids and all. That’s my word. Man, I wish they would come on and let me make my phone call. I’ve got to call my girl so she can call my mom on the three-way. Yeah, my mom will come and get me. I’m still her baby. . . .
This is what Kay was thinking about as he waited in that room for hours without complaining once. He looked over at the big two-way mirror and said out loud, “I ain’t going to break.” Agents White and Powell looked at Agent G. Hardy who was the head of their office. He kept his eyes on Kay through the two-way mirror and said, “Give him his charges and let him make his phone call.”