Crazy Summer (15 page)

The convoy of cars had started to slow down. The twins shared a window to see what was going on. They were passing a six-foot-high red brick wall that was the entrance to Cedar Grove Cemetery in East Augusta. They took a paved road on the inside of the cemetery. Mrs. Diane glanced out the window on her side at the one large blue tent set up with enough folding chairs underneath it to seat at least one hundred people. The limo came to a halt in front of two marble mausoleums sitting next to each other. Summer had bought them with some of the money Danté had left behind. After having spent over fifty thousand dollars for the burial of both men, she was still worth around three hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

The driver of the limo came around and opened the rear door, holding it open. Mrs. Diane was the first person to exit the limo. She used a metal walker. The twins followed next; they were by their grandmother’s side. Summer was next, and then Ann followed her. They were all escorted to the front row where the bodies lie in the glossy caskets. The other family members of Danté and Rodney rode in another limo, while the friends of both men had followed closely behind in their personal vehicles.

After everybody exchanged hugs, the funeral began. The pastor spoke for nearly an hour and said a beautiful prayer. Danté’s father shared a few words of encouragement and spoke highly of Summer. She shed tears but didn’t scream, cry out, or do anything dramatic. Finally, she got up and spoke. Her words were brief and straight to the point. In the eyes of everyone who watched her, they knew she spoke straight from the heart. Before finishing, she announced her pregnancy that she had just found out about a week ago. When the service ended, a lot of the family and friends met up at Summer’s house for food, drinks, and conversation.

*****

Almost three months had passed, and the hair salon was still going, but she had sold the carwash. After the funeral, she distanced herself from Ann after the two had a few words about the money her brother had left behind. Summer had to call the police to have her removed from the house. After she was gone, Summer searched the house and found close to seventy thousand. It was stuffed inside a spare tire in the garage. She knew about such hiding spots from when Danté used to take her to Florida. Summer traded both of the Lexus Sport Coupes in and got herself a new beige Q45 Infinity.

It was September now, and 1995 was approaching quickly. Summer wasn’t only a businesswoman, but she also became a hustler with the cocaine Danté had left behind. From having watched him cook it many times, she was advanced in the game and very smart with it.

She sat in her office dressed in a two-piece brown suit that barely hid her bulging stomach. R. Kelly was playing in the background as she flipped through her photo album. There were several photos of Danté and her together. There were some of Rodney when he was still in prison, and the kids were almost on every page she flipped. There was a knock on the door. She closed the photo album and tucked it away in a drawer.

“Come in,” she said.

The door opened, and a female with dyed red hair poked her head inside.

“You busy?” she asked Summer.

Summer waved her in, and the female entered, closing the door behind her.

She took a seat across from Summer, with the desk between them. Summer could tell something was bothering the girl. Her eyes gave off a sign of worry, and she kept fumbling with a thin gold chain around her neck.

Her eyes stared straight into Summer’s as she said, “I have a serious problem.” 

Summer studied the female and realized she was actually shaken. “What’s wrong, Trish?”

Trish’s eyes fell to the floor, then went to the wall behind Summer, then to the desk, and finally back to her. “Well…I know I’ve been workin’ at your place for only five months, and we never really had a chance to talk…” She took a deep breath. “I’m not too good wit’ words.” 

“Speak your mind,” Summer told her.

“I was wonderin’ if you could help me make some extra money.”

Summer stared at Trish for a few moments. She was trying to figure out if Trish or the other girls who worked for her in the salon knew about her business in the drug game. Maybe they knew. Maybe they didn’t. Even though Summer was younger than every female that worked underneath her, she knew she had to play the game by ear. She had come too far to let anyone invade her space.

“What are you tryin’ to do?” she finally asked.

Trish hesitated, then let her words flow. “I got about ten thousand dollars that I wanna invest.”

Summer’s eyebrows rose. “Invest into what?” Her voice rose into a high pitch. Then she stood up, but she didn’t show any signs of anger.

With her shoulders shrugged, Trish looked up at her. “I jus’ thought…”

Summer interrupted her. “I don’t know what you’re gettin’ at, Trish, but you definitely got the wrong person.”

Trish sat in silence for a few seconds thinking of a way to respond back to Summer, but before she could, Summer told her she could leave and not to worry about coming back.

After Trish left, Summer checked the time on her watch. She knew the twins had a little league football game today. It would be their first game, and she wouldn’t miss it for nothing in the world. After she left the salon, she went to get Lil’ Danté and then to the game.

      Trish rode up the street to a vacant parking lot. She pulled around the rear of an old building and parked next to a white cargo van. Just as she was stepping out of her car, the rear door opened on the van and two federal agents quickly hopped down. She shook both of their hands.

“She fired me,” Trish told them. Her real name was Federal Agent Audrey Hawkins.

The other two agents gave her a look of disgust. One of them flipped open a manila envelope and leafed through a few pieces of paper. The three stood quietly for several seconds until the guy with the paperwork said, “We don’t have enough. Not even for a conspiracy.”

“Maybe we can get a search warrant for both houses,” Agent Hawkins said.

One of the agents shook his head. “Let’s not rush this. We’ll put someone else on her.”

“She’s a drug dealer, Donaldson. Her boyfriend got killed, and she’s taken his place,” Agent Hawkins said. “Give me more time. I can build the case.”

The two male agents looked at each other briefly. They knew Audrey Hawkins was good at her work, and if she could get next to Summer, she would have a seventy percent chance in getting a conviction.

Donaldson looked at her. “Six months max.”

She nodded, shook their hands, and left.

Jermaine McKey was number five and played the position of quarterback. Jeremy had number eight on his jersey. He switched from running back to wide receiver, and sometimes, they both played defense. The twin’s team, who were called the Bulldogs, was dressed in their uniforms, which consisted of black jerseys with gold letters, gold-painted helmets, and black pants. Their opponent, the Wildcats, was dressed in red and white. Both teams were named after two high schools.

 Jermaine gathered his team into a huddle and quickly called the only play he knew by heart. He looked at his brother through his facemask, his eyes wide with anticipation.

“You ready?”

Jeremy nodded. For some reason, he didn’t seem too happy, but he said he was ready anyway. The team gave one thunderous clap and screamed, “Break!” They all lined up in formation, Jermaine standing behind the center. He looked to his right, then to his left, and now he scanned the defense on the other side.

“Hut! Hut!” he shouted.

With the ball in his hands, he took four steps backwards, and within seconds, his entire frontline had collapsed. He wasn’t about to hit his brother, but he’d run too far and the ball wouldn’t reach. Jermaine took off to his left, but the red and white jerseys were coming straight for him. So, he turned with the football tucked in the groove of his left arm and tried to go the other way. He was tackled.

A whistle blew somewhere in the background, and Jermaine finally got to his feet. After a timeout was called, the team rushed toward the sideline where their coach waited. He pulled them together in a small huddle, with Jermaine on his left and Jeremy on his right.

Summer stood on the sideline. Lil’ Danté was beside her, and the look on his face said he wanted to play.

“Jermaine!” Summer shouted. “If y’all win, I’ma get da whole team a new pair of Jordan’s.”

The entire team heard her and immediately forgot what the coach had said. They wanted those shoes, and they knew they had to win to get them.

A woman of her word, the following day she took the entire team to Foot Locker and purchased twenty pairs of Jordan’s since the team pulled it off. Later that evening, Summer pulled into the driveway of her house in the Infinity Q45. She got out, and so did the twins and Lil’ Danté. She walked around to the trunk and pulled out two small grocery bags. A neighbor next door waved at her from his riding lawn mower. Her manners were polite. She waved back, then she and the kids headed into the house. Summer cooked Hamburger Helper for the kids; it was their favorite meal. After dinner, Summer took a shower and slipped into a t-shirt and a pair of small shorts.

At eight o’clock, her and the kids sat in the den and watched
Above the Rim
on video. Lil’ Danté fell asleep before the movie ended, and after it went off, the twins wanted to talk about sports. They loved both football and basketball. She tried to talk to them about sports as much as she knew, but she couldn’t really answer the questions they had asked.

Days passed, and weeks turned into months. Summer had developed a routine. Work and back home with the kids, who were her main priority. She was eight months pregnant now and due to drop her load very soon. The doctors had told her that she was having a girl, and that made her very happy, as well.

This night in the middle of February, there was a knock at Summer’s front door, followed by the sound of the doorbell being pressed repeatedly. She got up, slipped her feet into her worn, fuzzy bedroom shoes, and made her way to the front door.

“Who is it?” she asked, still half asleep.

“It’s the FBI, ma’am. Can you please open the door?”

Summer’s heart thumped hard. She looked through the peephole and saw a badge.
Damn,
she thought. She unchained the door and removed the deadbolt. As her hand gripped the brass knob, the door crashed in on her, catching the side of her face. She fell to the floor with a thud. She was on her back, excruciating pain shooting through her. Three armed masked men entered.

“Who else is in here?” one of them asked.

“Just my kids. Ain’t anybody else,” she answered nervously.

One closed the door, while another knelt down beside her. Summer had a deep gash above her left eye, and the blood flowed quickly.

“We don’t wanna hurt da kids,” the guy said to her. “But, we will if you don’t tell us where everything is at.”

Summer wasn’t hip to this part of the game. She’d heard stories of robberies, but not about people pretending to be the police. Her heart was racing so fast she felt pain in her chest. A million things began racing through her mind. Her kids were in their rooms sound asleep, but another serious issue was her unborn baby in her stomach. Summer tried to control herself by taking slow, deep breaths.

The guy placed the barrel of the cold nine-millimeter underneath her chin. “Where da money at?” he growled anxiously.

“And da dope,” another guy added. He was just as serious.