The durham mob, p.29
The Durham Mob, page 29
Forty-five minutes later, Linda and Ernest rang the doorbell. William opened the door. “We brought your money,” Linda said angrily. Ernest said nothing as usual. Linda ran the show. “I thought we were friends and you threaten us with the police?”
“And you broke our deal and schemed with my brother to take the sofa without paying me. I don’t want to discuss this anymore. Give me my money and leave!” William counted the money before they left. “So, you think we might short change you?”
“I trust you, but I’ll cut the cards anyway.” They left. William went to his room. The only thing he couldn’t sell was the king size bed. It was one of the few things remaining from Coy’s eviction that was put in storage that he got when he returned from Europe. That was Coy’s bed and he would be able to sleep in it in a few days. He sold his piano and small freezer to Kia, an ex-girlfriend who lived in Newark, New Jersey. He packed his summer clothes to take with him to Puerto Rico. Everything he was doing was irrational. It was all emotional. He should have kept his job. He should have kept his apartment and helped Coy get another, since the apartment was in Coy’s name, or he could have just moved within the same complex. And he should have remained in New York with Iliana. He had saved a good deal of money and was feeling powerful. Iliana needed him and he loved her, although he never told her. There was this drive to get away. He had a great desire to move to Puerto Rico. He liked the way he felt when they were there on vacation.
After he sold all of his furniture, he packed his winter clothes and took some of them to Iliana’s apartment and the rest to Lottie’s apartment. It gave Lottie an ongoing connection to him and that made her feel good. Iliana, of course was as close to a wife as she could get. Bob asked to buy his Cadillac, just the way he bought Coy’s for one of his lieutenants. Bob came by and gave William a paper bag full of cash just as he did before. “Count out what you need, sign the paper and give me the key. Is that enough money?” William counted out four thousand dollars which was more than he could get any place else. “That’s enough.” He gave him the signed papers and the key. Now, it was really final. He no longer had a car. He rented one for a few days until it was time to go. That was one of the worst of his bad decisions. That Cadillac was in excellent condition. Since he was no longer working, he wouldn’t be able to buy another one anytime soon. But it was all done. There was no turning back. For some reason, he was calm about his bad decisions. Had William not been so emotional and stubborn about his decisions, all of his problems could have been solved. William could have gone to the rental office of the Bridge apartments and explained that he had been living there for the past six years, and that his brother had moved out four years earlier, and spent the last two years in prison. He could have simply explained that the apartment was in his brother’s name, and that he wanted to get another one in his name. Since he had a job, and there were available apartments, that would have been easy. After all, there were four buildings, thirty-two stories high. He could have kept his job, Iliana had her job, and maybe, just maybe, she could have moved in with him. He could have kept his Cadillac that he liked very much. That would have been the logical, easier thing to do, but he was not rational. When people are not rational, they always make mistakes, sometimes big mistakes. This was probably going to be that case.
William moved to Puerto Rico and settled into his furnished apartment and took out the portable typewriter that Lottie had lent him. He was going to write the great American novel. He stayed for only a month. It was pleasant enough, but he missed New York. He decided to return earlier than he had planned. Leaving New York City had been painful. He loved the City very much, and he loved that apartment and the pleasure of moving about the city.
CHAPTER 54
Coy was getting a sofa with the money he borrowed from Swazy since he had spent most of his money. He wanted to use the apartment as an office for his coke business. One of the reasons he wanted William out was because he wanted to run his business out of the apartment, and he knew William wasn’t going to have it. Because he was infamous, he was able to get his coke on consignment from one of the biggest heroin dealers in New York City, who also sold coke also. Coy sold coke because it was what he knew how to sell. He and Sid had sold a great deal before he went to prison. He made the rounds of clubs with samples of his product. He especially went to his old hunting ground, The Midway Bar, where he was well known. The hustlers and their women all wondered if he had some of those millions. Coy gave no clue. He didn’t dress as well as he did before he went away, and he was driving an old car bought for him by Swazy, not the obligatory Cadillac. Swazy was one of the people who knew that Coy had no money and as much money as he had, he didn’t want Coy to pay him back for the car. It made him feel superior to give it to him. Swazy offered to buy him a Cadillac, but Coy refused it. He didn’t want the pressure a Cadillac brought. The dealers would have been impressed, but the cops would have noticed. As Coy went around, he made it clear that he wasn’t going to sell coke in the bars and clubs. There was too much risk, and he didn’t want to go back to prison. Strangely, he really didn’t fear or think much about getting caught, but some caution was prudent. He had made up his mind that this was going to be his business and he didn’t look back. He gave his address and phone number to the guys he knew well, and told them he was open for business and that he would be selling good coke that had been stepped on only twice; almost Hustler’s coke, and that his prices would be competitive. Most of these guys knew him well and had gotten high at his apartment in Riverdale before he went to prison. They trusted him and the quality of his product. They weren’t going to be driving uptown to his apartment to get his coke. but they would send their flunkies.
A few weeks after William went to Puerto Rico, he had to come back to see about Iliana. She had written that she had been given a notice that she would have to move from the projects. Since her parents had passed away, she was no longer qualified to live in public housing.
He met this beautiful Mexican American flight attendant named Sonia on the plane. She said she was interested in getting a few hits of coke, so as soon as they landed, William rented a car and drove her straight to his old apartment. Coy had not changed the lock since there was no longer reason to do so. William walked in with the flight attendant. There were several people standing around snorting coke, a few sitting on the new sofa with their coke on the coffee table. They hardly noticed him. He walked to the back bedroom with the lovely lady following. Her eyes were scanning the strange scene with so many men and women standing around with aluminum foil in their hands, and tiny spoons that hung around their necks. They used the spoons for themselves and their ladies. The door was closed to William’s bedroom. Coy had left everything in place there and it was now his bedroom. The back bedroom, which used to be Coy’s bedroom, had only a few chairs and a coffee table that he used as his work table. William entered the room and found Coy seated at the table in a corner selling coke and taking a hit himself. Coy looked up and seemed a little cheerful to see William. “Hey brother, thought you were in Puerto Rico. Who’s that lovely lady with you?”
“This is Sonia. I thought I’d bring her by. Didn’t know you were in business.”
Coy stared with that unmistakable look that only William recognized. He wasn’t too high to lust for the new lady. “Here, take a hit.” He gave her a one and one. She snorted it like a pro. William was a little surprised. She, obviously had had some experience with that product. “Have another hit,” he told her and she obliged. “Sonia, right?”
“Yes, Sonia.”
“Do you like the product?” Coy asked. William stood staring at him, knowing he was coming on to her and realizing that if she liked coke, like so many other young women, she would come back around. The only problem was that she lived in Puerto Rico.
“What are you doing in town?” Coy asked
“Got some business to take care of.”
“How long you staying?”
“Just a few days.”
“Where you staying?” He didn’t want Sonia to know exactly his circumstances of his personal life, so he said, “Over in the Bronx.” He knew Coy would know where he meant. After Sonia had had several hits without paying, she was feeling good. While William was not looking, Coy winked at her and said, “Come back.” Since she really like coke, and knew where to get it free, she knew and he knew that she would return. William really liked her and hoped that they would be friends when he returned to Puerto. He knew no one else there. He drove her to the motel where the flight attendants stayed. “See you in Puerto Rico in three days.”
“Okay, see you there.”
William went to the South Bronx to Iliana’s building. He took the elevator to the 6th floor and rang the bell. Iliana opened the door and smiled broadly and gave him a big hug. “I thought you might not come.”
“How can you say that? Have I ever let you down? I’m here. How’s the job? How’s Nurys and the rest of the folks at the job?”
“Nurys is the same, crazy and still seeing her drug addict boy-friend, Frank, occasionally.”
“And how are you doing?” Iliana never complained nor cried. In fact, he had never seen her cry; not even when her mother died.
“I’m going to have to move because my parents are gone. They haven’t told me exactly how long I have so I’ll wait until I hear something. I’ve lived here most of my life. I can’t imagine living any other place.”
“Let’s let it play out, although you should start looking for a place. Whatever you decide and wherever you decide to move, I’ll help. I should’ve fought my brother for my apartment. It probably would’ve been better for both of us. Come down to visit me in Puerto Rico for a few days.” She only stared in silence. She wasn’t thinking about a vacation in Puerto Rico while she was facing eviction.
They got on the mattress on the floor in the living room, embraced each other for a while and made passionate love like two people who had not had sex for a while. They had to sleep on a mattress on the floor, since her brother had taken all the furniture to Connecticut, where he had a great job at IBM as a graphic artist. After a few days of reassuring her of his support, he prepared to leave. “When you have a definite date or when you find a new place, come down and spend a few relaxing days with me before you have to move. I’ll come back and help you.
CHAPTER 55
Coy was rolling in money. He had paid all of the money he owed from getting his first two kilos of coke on consignment. He had made enough money to buy a new car, a Ford. He traded in the old one that Swazy had bought for him. As well as he was playing the game, he wasn’t stupid enough to buy a Cadillac. He wasn’t low profile, but he wasn’t high profile. He was making a big profit and getting all of the pussy he could handle. He had not had a very special woman in his life for more than four years. Lauren was the last really meaningful relationship, the last girlfriend. He had a few favorites, but not one to move in with him. He was living the life. In New York City, the cops weren’t really trying to break up operations like his. There were so many dealers in New York, mostly heroin, but a lot of coke dealers, as well. Cops made a lot of money by threatening and shaking down but not arresting the dealers. Heroin dealers had different customers than coke dealers. Most heroin addicts were Blacks and Puerto Ricans who mostly stole or sold heroin themselves to support their habits. Most coke users were middle class to rich people and the hustlers like Swazy who used it for recreation and entrapment. Coke was a recreation drug. Heroin was the monkey on the back, addicting drug, hopeless people used it, more men than women. Strangely, Blacks were using heroin long before the large Puerto Rican migration to New York, but Puerto Ricans had now surpassed blacks as the number of addicts. They were mostly poor second and third generation Puerta Ricans, whose parents and grand-parents came to New York for a better life. They worked very hard so their children could have a better life, but poverty and a sense of hopelessness had driven their children to drugs. They were now worse off than if they had stayed in Puerto Rico.
Bob and Swazy had the addicts. Coy had the working class, the entertainers and the rich for his coke business. The coke dealers had to advertise, give samples and share their product. The heroin dealers never went near their product. They were the high paid CEO’s. Roy Butler, who owned the garage where William used to park his Cadillac was the biggest among their group, but he was nowhere near the biggest guys like Frank Lucas. Roy was a millionaire, but Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes and Frank (Pee Wee) Matthews were multimillionaires and CEO’s, and most of the other dealers bought their product from them. These guys were conglomerates!
Coy was just a dealer like many others, but he was now netting ten thousand per week and still had all the coke he could snort and trade for pussy. He did change the locks on the apartment, but it was not necessary, William never went by there again. For the first time, they were not communicating at all. William didn’t know how Coy was doing, and Coy didn’t care how William was doing. But because of his need to meddle in William’s life and to inflict pain occasionally, he would call people whom he knew would be in touch with him to find out where he was and occasionally drop a sentence or two about how he missed him. He would even mention that he still loved him. When these friends would pass these sentences on to William, he would tell them, “Never tell me what he said or that he said anything. If you do, I won’t speak to you again.” The friends would sometimes try to suggest that since they were brothers, they should try to work out their differences. “I will say this for the last time, if you comment about my brother and me or try to give me any message from him, I won’t speak to you again!”
Although Coy was making a lot of money selling coke, it was a hands-on business, which required a lot of energy. He knew he could make five times as much selling heroin, a product that he had never handled or sold. He had made many contacts during his reign and after his embezzlement; especially since he had moved into that apartment in Riverdale. Many of the people who frequented his parties were drug dealers. The heroin dealers bought coke from him. He had met a few of Frank Lucas’ lieutenants there. Frank was from a small town outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, practically, a homeboy, so naturally when he decided to change products, he went to Frank, one of the biggest heroin dealers to help him get started. Heroin was much cheaper than coke, and he took the money he made selling coke to get started. He bought two kilos of heroin. He needed the workers to cut the heroin, package, it and the street guys to sell it. He called Charley Red who had worked for Swazy and Bob and knew the business well. Red had been selling coke on his own, but it was Coy who brought him up to New York City and he and William had allowed him to sleep on the sofa when he first arrived. He always felt indebted to Coy and William. Coy asked Red to set up the net-work for him. Red had already become a small dealer and was happy to help. He put the net-work together for him and Coy was in business. Soon, he was making thousands more than when he was just selling coke, and he didn’t have to work as hard.
William received an urgent call from Iliana telling him that she would have to move in a few days. He immediately flew back to New York and went straight to her apartment. She was still working at ARTC, but now, housing was the problem. She seemed more stressed than he had ever seen her, still no tears. Since she was so on edge, he remained calm but he was very concerned. Iliana had led a sheltered life. She had lived in the same place with her parents and her brother most of her life. She knew the neighborhood, although, it was the South Bronx and not the best of neighborhoods, and this was the projects. She felt very comfortable there as anyone would have felt in so familiar surroundings. William realized, again, that if he had fought for his apartment and stayed there and kept his job, everything would have been easy. Although he hadn’t wanted to live with any woman because it would cramp his style, he could see living with Iliana. She was everything a guy could want. She was honest, intelligent, attractive and still maintained her innocence. The only disadvantage for him would have been his lack of freedom. He realized though that he would have allowed her to move in with him had he kept the apartment. But now, they needed plan B. He didn’t have time to apartment hunt with her so he asked, “Why don’t you ask Nurys if she would like to get a place with you?”
“I did ask her but she said her mother needed her to stay at home. You know how Puerto Rican parents are.” Nurys was Dominican, but it amounted to the same thing as being a Puerto Rican, similar culture. He remembered a lady he had dated a while back who lived in the Barbizon Hotel. It was a residence hotel, a higher-class YWCA. He suggested it to Iliana and she agreed to go and take a look. He took her by there and she thought it was clean, safe and affordable, and it was only one subway stop on the “A” train to her job. He helped her move her belongings there. It was so depressing for her to leave the nest, the safety of the familiar, to go out into the world for the first time, although this was still New York City. He felt so bad for her. Not only didn’t she cry, she didn’t smile and there was no laughter within her. What else could he do? He felt so helpless. If only he had a place for her. He left her there and returned to Puerto Rico. It bothered him all the way back. She was alone, living in a hotel where she knew no one. It was a whole new world for her. He felt he was abandoning her. He had promised her dying mother that he would take care of her. But taking care of her now would mean abandoning his freedom. She was the closet person to him, even more so than Lita or Lottie, but he was not ready for a complete commitment. Although he felt guilty leaving her there, there were only two other choices, coming back and living with her, or continuing his bachelor life. He would just have to live with the guilt a little longer.
