Daughter of a queen pin, p.7
Daughter of a Queen Pin, page 7
It was ten o’clock when Tank and the other lieutenants showed up. Ms. Lady stayed close to where Tank was, always making sure she was no more than inches away from him. Ten minutes later, in comes Lloyd,
“You late.” I frowned.
“I’m only a couple minutes late.” Lloyd returned the same energy.
“Well, when I call a meeting, I expect everybody to be on time. You understand me?” I made my feelings known.
“Wait a fucking minute,” he raged. “I’m not some little punk, Krystal!”
He must have smelled trouble because he reached for his gun. I came up firing mine. I hit him in the stomach. Everybody reached for their guns as well. Ms. Lady shot Tank in the foot before he could reach for his gun. Sable, Ms. Lady, and the runners who were placed by the door so no one could leave, had their guns out.
“Don’t nobody move.” Everything was silent for a minute. “This is between Tank, Lloyd, and us,” I proclaimed. “Everybody else put your guns on the floor. The rest of y’all better be cool unless you wanna be down with them.”
Sable put the gun to Tank’s head. “Nigga, move over to the middle of the floor with Lloyd.”
“Lloyd, why did you rob me, man?” I fumed.
Lloyd, lying in a puddle of blood, holding his stomach with his hand, was shocked. He had no idea I knew. I shot him in the hand. Lloyd grimaced in pain.
“Lloyd, where is my shit? That’s all I want to know.”
The room was silent. Fear was in every man without a gun. That’s when Tank spoke up. “We didn’t do it. It was Hakim.”
Lloyd, bleeding and trying to think his way out of the situation, said, “Yeah, Hakim did it. He’s the only one not here.” He tried to run game.
I laughed. “Negro, Hakim is in the room. He sold both y’all out.”
The fear finally began to take its toll on Tank and Lloyd. They both lay in the middle of the floor with seven guns on them, watching them bleed to death.
“Lloyd, I want my drugs and money. I’ll let you live if I get me stuff back. You my boy. We go way back.”
Lloyd, losing a lot of blood, saw his life pass before him. “It’s buried in my back yard by the tree,” he blurted out, trying to bargain to see another day. “Let me go, Krystal. You will never see me again.”
“Krystal, it was Lloyd’s idea,” Tank yelled, searching for his own way to live.
“Fool, you just said it was Hakim’s idea,” Sable said.
I motioned to the runners. “Get Hakim out the bedroom.”
The runners went in the bedroom and returned. They threw the rug on the floor, and it unrolled with Hakim laying there dead. “Shit!” I heard from one of the lieutenants.
The room fell silent. Fear of the unknown was on the face of all the other guys.
“I don’t want nobody fucking with our shit. Nobody!” I said as I waved the gun in the air.
Ms. Lady and Sable had their guns moving from one man to another. The runners had their guns out, ready for the command to kill everybody in the room. This is the ultimate fear for any person in the streets—to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I called Ms. Lady and whispered in her ear. She disappeared to the back room for a few moments, then she came back with barbecue lighter fluid. I put my gun to Lloyd’s head and told him and Tank to undress. They hesitated, so Ms. Lady shot Tank in his other foot.
“Undress, she said.” Ms. Lady’s voice was hard and strong. There was no doubt she meant it. Both men struggled to take off their clothes.
“Get on top of Hakim,” I told Tank.
While Sable held her gun to his head, he obeyed, crying and pleading to Sable.
“And you lay on top of Tank,” I told Lloyd.
“No way,” Lloyd said, so I shot him again, and his limp body hit the floor.
“Put him on top of Tank,” I told the runners. The room was so silent you could hear a piece of thread hit the floor. I again repeated, “I don’t want nobody to fuck with our money.” If I could read the minds of the guys there, I would think they were praying they could leave this nightmare.
I poured the lighter fluid on the three naked men as I looked at everybody in the room. “Did anybody see this?” I asked. All these so-called hardcore men were looking like a bunch of pussies getting ready to be fucked.
“Let’s go,” I said, and everybody started leaving the house. The runners, Ms. Lady, and Sable were the last to leave before me.
As we were gathering up the guns, I saw a death look on the face of Tank. “Please don’t do it, Krystal,” he begged quietly.
I struck the match and threw it. The flames engulfed the room. From outside, everyone leaving took a glance at the flames shooting out the windows. They jumped in their cars and got out of the neighborhood. You could hear screams and you could smell the burning of human flesh. I thought I saw one of the windows burst open and something came out flying, but I didn’t care. We were on our way to retrieve the items that were stolen from us. Again, we had sent the message: don’t fuck with Family First Enterprise.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I pulled up to Lloyd’s house with Sable, Ms. Lady, and the runners, where we searched the back yard for the drugs and money. We found a big army bag under a tree as Lloyd had said we would. There was about six thousand dollars’ worth of drugs and some hundreds in cash. It was such a small amount to lose your life for, but to me, it was the principal. I couldn’t have anybody thinking we were a bunch of pushovers. I let the runners take what they wanted from the house, then I gave them the dope to sell and five hundred dollars apiece. That brought us loyalty and advertising by word of mouth. Then we went back to the greasy spoon and went on with our daily chores, making sure our operation was running smooth.
When Cedric called me, I told him, “I want to see you later.” I wanted to spend some more time in that heavenly house of his. It was kind of ironic that I killed somebody during the day, and then I thought I was supposed to go to heaven when I was at Cedric’s house.
Laying in his white bedroom and heavenly atmosphere, I saw Cedric, and he just looked so good to me. I guess it was because I hadn’t seen him in a week. I just needed him to hold me.
After a few hours of talking, we both fell asleep. I was awakened by a call from Sable.
“Look at the news. We got a problem.”
“I’m not at home. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Krystal, they found the bodies at the house.”
“That’s okay. The house was not in my name. It was in a dummy corporation,” I explained.
“Naw, Krystal, they only found two bodies.”
“Huh? Where was the other one?” I asked.
“They never said anything about another one. They never found it. What do you think happened?” She was out of sorts.
“Not on the phone. I’ll see you at work at ten.” I hung up before she responded. I had to think.
I thought I had seen something fly out the window as the house burst into flames, but I couldn’t be sure. If Tank had jumped out the window, he could’ve been alive. He could go to the police, or he could come looking for us. I knew Tank had a lot of brothers because he grew up with me. We’d have to watch our backs even more.
I got up, brushed my teeth, showered, and got dressed and left Cedric’s house. I arrived at the greasy spoon at 9:45, but Sable wasn’t there. Neither was Ms. Lady. I began to get a little concerned. Ms. Lady was always in by nine o’clock. I called her cell phone and got no answer. So, I called Sable.
“You heard from Ms. Lady? She ain’t here at the greasy spoon,” I said to Sable.
“She’s with me,” she revealed. “She had to drop her car off to get it fixed. We’ll be there in ten.”
When they arrived, we talked about the consequences of last night’s events. We agreed on stronger security in the greasy spoon and that we shouldn’t go anywhere alone and without a gun.
After getting some crew to post up at the greasy spoon, we went and started our everyday jobs, running our operation. I had to promote three lieutenants because of what had happened at the house. Things were beginning to unravel. The pressure was mounting. The more money we made, the harder things got.
* * *
Months passed after the house incident, and we let down our guard.
After distributing product and counting the money, Sable and I left to put the money in our stash. I decided to go over Cedric’s to watch television. A lot of times, I would go over Cedric’s during the day just to get away and think.
At the same time, three men entered the greasy spoon, acting strange. After a while, they started arguing. When our enforcer approached them, they turned around, and two guys shot him. Ms. Lady, hearing the commotion, came out of the office just as the enforcer was shot. She unloaded her automatic weapon, instantly killing one of the men. The other two kept shooting, and Ms. Lady ducked in the office.
While the guys continued shooting at the door, Ms. Lady got the AK automatic and began spraying the greasy spoon, wounding another perpetrator. They ran outside as the police were coming, and they began shooting at the police. The police returned fire, killing the wounded guy. One got away, and the other one lay inside, dead from Ms. Lady’s gunfire. Ms. Lady was hit three times and collapsed.
I learned about the attack while watching television. I saw a breaking news report scroll on the screen.
A shootout at a local greasy spoon. Three people confirmed dead.
The sight of my business on the screen made my heart skip a beat. I nervously called Ms. Lady but got no answer. Then I called Sable. She was on her way back to the greasy spoon because she had gotten a call from Tim, who was at the scene.
I asked Cedric to take me there because I was too in my feelings, and I didn’t think I could drive. Police had the area blocked off. As we arrived, Tim let us through the army of police officers, some still with their guns out, looking for more suspects.
My heart was in my stomach as I ran in, screaming, “Where is my mother?” Assuming the worst, I started crying when I saw the tears in Sable’s eyes. “No, no, not Ms. Lady!” I was out of my mind. Sable grabbed me and held me.
“Auntie was shot three times. She is in intensive care.” Sable gave me the needed update.
The police wanted to interview us. They wouldn’t let us leave. Sable asked Tim to see if we could come down to the station after we saw that Ms. Lady was all right. The detective agreed, and we went to see about my mother.
Ms. Lady was an emergency case. She was in surgery, and we had to stay put in the waiting room. Sable and I were crying like the true females we were. The doctor came out and called Ms. Lady’s government name.
“Charday Davenport. Anyone here for Charday Davenport?”
“I’m her daughter, and this is her niece.” I didn’t want to ask the doctor if she was dead. I gave in to all my fears, and tears poured. I fell to the ground and pounded the floor hard, crying like a baby, expecting the worst.
“Wait, stop, please. She’s going to make it,” the doctor said as he helped me up off the floor.
Sable inquired of the doctor, “Can we see her, please?”
“She is heavily sedated. However, I’ll give you a few minutes with her.” He led us to the room my mother was in. A policeman was outside the door in a chair.
“What do they think, she’s going to get up and leave?” I yelled so the cop could hear me. He jumped up to respond, but the doctor stopped him.
“She’s a little upset,” the doctor stated. The policeman sat back down, and the three of us went into the room.
“She was shot three times. We’re lucky the bullets didn’t hit a main artery, or the outcome would have been very different,” the doctor said.
From where I was standing, the outcome was fucked up enough. Ms. Lady had tubes running out of her mouth. She had IVs in her arm, and she wasn’t moving. She was breathing with the help of a machine. Sable and I held each other, looking at Ms. Lady lying there helplessly. It made me sad to think that this was the first time I remembered seeing Ms. Lady in years when she wasn’t high. I vowed to myself that she would not return to the greasy spoon.
“Okay, ladies, you have to leave and let her get some rest. Give the receptionist your number, and I’ll call you if there is any change. She will be out at least until the morning.” The doctor gave a faint, encouraging smile.
“All right.” Sable returned his smile. “But can I get your card to call you personally to see how my auntie is doing?” Sable never missed an opportunity.
“So, Sable, I’m going to wait in the lobby a while,” I said.
After the initial shock of seeing my mother lying there looking like a vegetable started to wear off, I began to get angry. One hour ago, I was crying like a spoiled child, like a daughter would when seeing her mother like that. Now I felt like a killer, and all I wanted was revenge. I thought about who could have done this. I thought about why it happened. I blamed everybody but myself.
When Sable came to the lobby, we went over what happened at the greasy spoon. “It had to be Tank’s brothers. But nobody knows but Ms. Lady. Our enforcer was killed, and Ms. Lady killed one of the suspects, the other one the police killed, and one got away. We have to find out who did this to Ms. Lady,” I said.
Sable’s voice had a serious tone. “Krystal, I think it’s time we got out the game. It’s getting too hard. It’s beginning to hit home.”
“Say what?”
“Krystal, we got more money than we could ever spend. I got one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, and we still got a hundred thousand in the streets. It’s time to go.”
“You getting scared, Sable?”
“No, I’m getting cautious,” she responded.
“Sable with you or without you, I have to get revenge for Ms. Lady.”
“I’m not saying not to. I’m just saying think about getting out so we can really enjoy life.”
“Girl, I can’t think about anything but my mother right now, and I know she would want me to find the person that did this to her.”
“You know I’m down with you all the way. But after we do what we have to do, I want us to enjoy our life, okay, Krystal?”
We left the hospital, and I had Sable drop me off at Cedric’s since I had left my car there.
“I’m tired. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Think about what I said,” Sable reaffirmed as she drove off.
Cedric wasn’t home, so I looked under the plant to find the spare key and let myself in. I took a long, hot shower, rubbed some lotion on my body, and climbed into the bed, or the pure gates of heaven, as I called it. I needed to rest my mind.
Tears began to form in my eyes as I thought about my beloved mother. Lord, I know I’m not worthy of anything because of all my sins, but could you please make sure my mother is okay? She is all I have.
I cried myself to sleep.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cedric woke me up around seven o’clock. “Your phone has been ringing. I didn’t want to wake you, but it might be something about your mother.”
I jumped up to grab my phone. It was Sable. “What’s wrong? Is Ms. Lady all right?” I asked, my voice shaking, thinking the worst.
“Auntie is still the same, but the police is charging her with murder, Krystal.”
“What! Murder? I can’t believe that.”
Cedric put his arms around me to comfort me.
“We have to be downtown by nine o’clock. You want me to come get you?” Sable brought my full attention back to the phone.
“No, that’s okay. I have to go home and change clothes. I will see you downtown. I need to get a good lawyer.”
We hung up. I asked Cedric, “You know any good lawyers? Ms. Lady’s gonna need one.”
He gave me the number for Paulette McKenzie and told me, “I’ll call for you, and someone from the law firm can meet you downtown.”
I was thankful for having Cedric in my chaotic life.
* * *
When we arrived downtown, the detectives were waiting on us. They took us in separate rooms and interrogated us. We were in there for three hours, until a young lady came in and informed the detective that she was my lawyer. She was dressed in a business suit with her long hair tied up in a hair clip. I could tell she was known by the detectives, because they gave her a lot of respect.
“My client will not answer any more questions. If you are not charging my client, we are leaving.” She opened the door to the room without waiting on a response. “Goodbye, gentlemen. If you have any questions for any of my clients, Charday Davenport, Sable Thomas, or Krystal Davenport, please call me.” She gave each detective her card, and we left.
Outside, Sable was waiting. When she joined us, the attorney made her formal introductions. “I’m Paulette McKenzie. Cedric had me come down. You ladies have any problems, call me. They are going to arraign Charday Davenport tomorrow in her hospital room. I need you girls to be there. Nine o’clock sharp.” She shook our hands and left.
We didn’t even get a word in. She was good. I liked her style. She commanded respect.
Sable and I left to go see Ms. Lady at the hospital. She still looked the same, not responding, with tubes coming out of her mouth. I really couldn’t take it. I began to get so much hatred in my mind. I wanted to find out who did this.
“Sable, I can’t stay no longer. I got things to do. We must still take care of our business.” I kissed Ms. Lady and touched her hand. “I’ll be back, Ms. Lady.”
Out in the parking lot, I told Sable, “I have to put on my working clothes. I’ll meet you at the greasy spoon in a hour and a half.”
She nodded.
“But don’t inside till I get there. We will go in together.”
I called a couple of my lieutenants, and we met back at the greasy spoon in an hour. I wanted to talk to them before Sable got there to see if I could get some information. People will talk more by themselves than with someone around.
