The durham mob, p.7
The Durham Mob, page 7
Charles had met Diane at one of the many parties that he attended. He saw this attractive young lady, who was actually Bob’s date. Bob had only recently met her and had not consummated the relationship, but he liked her. Charles heard her talk and discovered that she was upper middle class and came from a very good family. She was attractive, but ordinary compared to his usual taste in women. Nevertheless, he overwhelmed her, bragging and implying that he was rich. He simply took her away from Bob who certainly could not complain. Charles asked to take her to the Copa Cabana to see the Temptations. Most guys would just ask to take a new lady to dinner, but Charles was not most guys. When he saw something he wanted, he usually got it. He simply out bided the other guys. The only times he would back down was when the girl had a boyfriend who also had means or who would kick his ass. He also showed caution for guys whom he respected, like William. But even then, if he thought that the girl was just a date and not a girlfriend, he would shoot from behind. Charles already had a main lady, Brenda, who was “high yalla,” and gorgeous, but he had so many women that even Brenda could only take up so much of his time. Now, she was no longer the favorite. When he went down to the next homecoming, he took Diane, rather than Brenda. He was anxious to show the bougies at home that he had money and a high-class lady. The other guys thought he was crazy not to take Brenda, if he wanted to show off a lady, because Brenda was stunning. But the guys did not understand his great desire to be liked and accepted by the people he looked up to most of his life, the upper class in Durham, who had looked down on him and others like him. The guys later learned that he was serious about Diane, as serious as he could be. However, he didn’t slow down his conquests. He continued to screw so many ladies that he couldn’t hide it from Diane. She didn’t care about his behavior anymore. She just kept banking the money. She probably stopped believing that they would actually get married. Anyway, if they did, she certainly would not tolerate his juvenile, immature behavior. Under normal circumstances, she probably wouldn’t have dated him if he hadn’t had so much money and ready to spend it on her. And of course, marriage would not have been a consideration. Diane was very educated, had a good professional job and much more sophistication than his other women. He enjoyed taking her places and introducing her to people. Since his background was lower class, this made him feel good to be associated with her and her friends. He even met her parents, who lived in Staten Island in a very large house. He impressed them with his southern charm and his intention to finish law school. If Charles really wanted to get married, Diane was the kind of woman he would want to marry. They had been dating for quite some time, but he didn’t bring her around the home boys often. None of the homeboys believed that Charles was actually going to get married. Someone whispered, “He’s just show boating as usual.” Seriousness about women was not a characteristic of Charles. At the birthday party, there was a seven feet tall New York professional basketball player who was well known, and had recently signed a very lucrative contract. Several girls stood around trying to talk to him. Suddenly, Charles turned off the music, jumped up on the bar, looked right at the basketball player and said, “Sorry, my brother, you have to go. There can be only one star at this party!” Everybody was stunned. They just stood there and stared in silence. The basketball player looked shocked and stunned as well but did not want trouble. He was thoroughly embarrassed, so he slowly put down his cup and left. Charles resented him getting so much attention at his party. All of the homeboys were surprised, but they also knew how Charles could act. After all, he was the “Wild Child.” The one thing he insisted on, was being at the center of attention. No one dared tell him how wrong he was. Charles turned the music back on and everyone continued to party. No one growing up with Charles ever saw this side of him until he got a lot of money. He grew up a very respectful guy, like most of the southern guys. It was part of their culture. You couldn’t act that way back home. Nobody did. Several people began to change, most for the worse. Some showed their weaknesses by catering to Charles and becoming his flunky.
Although William was not a big drinker, nor a coke head, nor did he like pot, the combination of a little of the three made him quite high. At the same time, Coy didn’t smoke pot but he did enjoy coke. He was coking up and drinking more champagne. They both reached a point when they were quite high, and occasionally stared at each other across the room. Finally, Coy, holding Lauren by the hand negotiated the crowd and came up to William who was standing with Linda. He stared at William, looking very serious and said, “Let’s go and talk,” and walked towards one of the bathrooms. William took Linda by the hand and followed, having no idea what the talk would be about, especially in the middle of a wild party. Coy and Lauren entered the bathroom first and walked to the far side. William and Linda entered and stood side by side on the near side and closed the door behind them. The four stood face to face. Lauren was quite high and had no idea what was happening. She just followed. They were all in the dark about what was happening. Coy was leading the show. As soon as they were settled for a few seconds, Coy seemed to go into a sort of trance. He stared straight ahead at William, blinking his eyes rapidly. William stared back waiting to hear what he was going to say. “When I was eleven years old, you pushed me down. When I was sick, you ate my fruit,” Coy said in a measured tone, still seemingly in a trance.
“What are you talking about?” responded William. The two young ladies became a little more sober listening to the strange conversation. As high as they were, they were wondering what the hell was going on. They looked at each other and Linda looked at Coy since she was facing him. Lauren looked at William for the same reason, although she was tempted to turn her head and look at Coy. He continued. “You wouldn’t let me ride your bike.”
“What are you talking about? We were kids. Mom didn’t want you to ride,” cried William through the tears that rolled down his face. “You didn’t want me to play on the softball team,” continued Coy, as though he didn’t even hear William. It was as if Coy was in pain as he rambled on for what seemed like hours, even though it lasted for only about three minutes. “Mom didn’t want you to play because you were still sick, but you played anyway! Why are you saying all this? We were kids!” William was uncontrollably crying harder than he had cried since he was a kid. Coy seemed to slowly return to reality. For a time, he appeared to be that little sick kid but he gathered his composure, looked at William and said, “Let’s get out of here and go to my place.” William was wiping his eyes and slowly stopped crying. The girls just stared in silence. They gathered their things, waved at Charles and headed for the door. They both realized that William was not going to follow him to his apartment. Whatever had happened had ended. Coy got into his car and drove off. William got into his car and headed to his apartment. William and Linda rode in silence. Finally, Linda spoke slowly and asked, “Did you see what happened in that bathroom? Your brother was not there for a while. Were you aware of what was happening? What the hell was that all about?”
“I was aware but I couldn’t control my crying and I didn’t understand what he was getting at nor why he was saying this at this time; or why he still remembered that stuff. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen or ever been involved in.”
“Do you understand what all that meant,” asked Linda?
“No, not really. I don’t even remember everything he said. I think he was complaining about stuff we did as kids.”
“That’s exactly what he was doing, but he wasn’t just complaining, he could have done that sober. He was blaming you for stuff that happened a long time ago. He was still holding on to it. He seemed lost in time.”
“We went through elementary school, high school and college together, most of the time sleeping in the same bed and up to a few months ago, sharing an apartment and I was sure I knew him. I never saw this side of him, never knew there was another side.”
“Not so long ago, before the money, he wasn’t like this, was he and you didn’t see this coming, did you?”
“No, he was always just fun to be around. Everything began to change as soon as he started getting that illegal money. I don’t understand how money can change who you are!” They were both silent the rest of the way. They both came down from their highs and everything was back on schedule. Linda was still good in bed, so off to his abode to finish the business. Coy drove to his apartment, also in silence. Lauren didn’t dare ask any questions. They never spoke of it, and neither did the two brothers. Years later, William would come to understand what it all meant.
CHAPTER 14
After work, the third week of August, a few days before the caper was ending, Charles decided to take a few homeboys shopping for suits and accessories. He often did this. He would go to the same stores where they knew him so he could show off more. These were Jewish clothing stores, and Charles would often yell out, “Give the guy a shirt and tie to match, you tight Jew bastards.” The owners and managers paid little attention to Charles’ yelling; after all, he was spending hundreds of dollars each time he came. Charles had Raymond, who was driving the car, to park in front of the store, which was on 42nd street. Of course, it’s against the law to park on 42nd Street. There were four guys in the car, besides Charles. There was Raymond, Cody, O.J. and Sid, who was carrying a valise. When they exited the store, a subway cop was there. He told them to move the car immediately. “You can’t park on 42nd Street.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” responded Charles.
“No, and I don’t care. Nobody parks on 42nd street. Now move the car before I have you arrested!”
“You’re just an underpaid subway cop. Go back under ground where you belong. If I’m breaking the law, have me arrested.” Charles was drunk with power. He had a pocket full of money because he had just cashed his $33,000 worth of checks the night before. Money had caused him to momentarily lose his grip on the reality of his situation. He did, of course, realize that he was not breaking a major law, and that whatever happened would be minor. In the meantime, Sid was just standing there with his usual cool. The officer got pissed and called the street cops. They showed up immediately and asked for the license and registration. They looked at all the guys standing there and announced, “This car is stolen.” Of course, it wasn’t. The car was registered with the city program that the guys worked for. But since the officer was pissed and he could temporarily do what he wanted, and he wanted them to pay for their disrespect. Actually, Charles’ disrespect. The others weren’t saying anything. The officer was very annoyed and ordered them to follow him to the police station. Charles told the others not to worry. They hadn’t done anything and they would be on their way home soon. They all got into the car, although they didn’t have to. Even Charles didn’t have to, he wasn’t driving but he was the insulting one. Only the driver, O.J., had to go but they all went. O.J. could have just apologized and moved the car but he was following Charles’ lead. When they got to the station, to their surprise, they were booked on disorderly conduct. They were locked in a cell. They were all laughing and joking. Charles used his permitted phone call and called Bob to come and bail them out. He didn’t realize the officers were going to let them go without bail anyway. Plus, one needed to go to court before a judge to set bail. They borrowed a deck of cards from the officers and began playing poker for money. They had the money out in the open defiantly. The officers paid no attention. The arresting officer whispered to the booking officer, “They are just blowing off steam. Keep them until the shift changes. Give them a parking ticket and let them go.” Charles didn’t have a worry in the world. The officers realized that it was actually an illegal arrest and they didn’t want any more problems from these guys. When Bob arrived, the officers allowed him to go to the cell and talk to them. Sid reached through the bars and whispered to Bob, “Take this up, up town with, with you.” One officer said, “Hey, what are you doing?” We check everything coming in and going out.” He took the valise which they had neglected to confiscate in the first place. The procedure is to empty the arrestee’s pockets before they are locked up, but since this was just harassment by the police, they allowed the guys to keep their possessions. When he reached his desk, he opened the valise and found one hundred checks, all signed nicely and neatly, seemingly by the same pen. “Holy shit!” he said. “There are hundreds of checks in here.” The other officer looked at them and asked, “Who are they made out to?”
“Each one is made out to a different person.” He responded.
“What company are they from?” They say, “The City of New York.”
“What agency?” The second officer asked? “The Neighborhood Youth Corps, it says underneath.”
“Isn’t that the group that employs kids in the summer? Whose signature is at the bottom?”
“It says, Commissioner Ginsberg.”
“I think we’re on shaky legal ground. After all, we probably shouldn’t have been searching through private property without proper cause.”
“It looks as though something illegal had occurred. What should we do with these checks? We can’t keep them. For this simple arrest, you know we shouldn’t have searched through the guy’s valise.”
“It’s too late now, I’m gonna close the valise and call the commissioner. “He immediately called the FBI and then the commissioner of the program. Suddenly, the guys were not allowed to leave. They kept them over night while the FBI examined the checks. When the commissioner arrived, he told the FBI how the system worked. The checks had to have a job site code for location. When the FBI checked the codes, they found the location was a street corner. What Charles and the others didn’t know was that Sid had those checks and now the officers had them. Charles didn’t suspect anything also, because everybody had cashed their checks Friday night and had pockets full of money. The reason Sid had his checks was because he was supposed to pick them up from Hazel, his main lady, who signed his checks. He was supposed to pick them up three days earlier and give them to Gene to take to the check cashing business. He knew that Hazel would want sex, and would want him to spend time, but he had plans to have sex with a new one, so he didn’t go to pick them up. Hazel was disappointed and angry. She knew him well enough to know why he didn’t come by. After three days, on the following Monday, she took them to his job. “Since you didn’t come to get your checks, here they are!” She was livid. Sid, as usual, was very cool. He never cared what any woman thought. He simply took the checks, without saying a word to anyone. That’s why the other guys in the car didn’t know, especially Charles. Had he known, he would not have allowed Sid to ride with them in the first place and would have been extra pissed knowing that the checks were that old. They should have been cashed like all of the others. Charles was loud and boisterous, but he was very careful about his connection with the checks. He never touched them. When they were released, the police wouldn’t give Sid the package. They said the checks either belonged to the kids whose names were on the checks or to the commissioner. Case closed. Sid didn’t argue. He just walked away with the others. Before they even got to the car to leave, Charles was yelling, “What the fuck were you doing with checks? All the checks were supposed to been cashed! Why did you still have checks? Do you realize what you have done? I told Coy not to hire your black ass. I knew you were gonna fuck up some way!” Although he rarely used profanity, this was an occasion for it. “Everything was going along just fine. Everybody is getting money and you fuck up just as I knew you would!” Sid didn’t say a word. He was still mister cool. Finally, he spoke. “They still don’t, don’t know what, what’s going on. They still can’t, can’t prove anything.”
“Yeah, but they know something was going on. They’ll want to know who these kids are and why they don’t have their own checks. Why the fuck did you get in the car to go to the police station? Why didn’t you just walk away to the subway? You weren’t driving. You didn’t have to go to the police station. I didn’t have to go, but I didn’t care because I’m clean. I knew there was nothing they could do to me. I knew we would walk away. But you had those checks and you didn’t say one fucking word! If I’d known, I wouldn’t of let your ass ride with us!” They all had been making so much money that they thought nothing could happen to them. It was an arrogance of power! Most drug dealers and pimps felt the same way. That’s why they flaunted their riches, wearing expensive jewelry and clothes and loudly announcing their presence. “It’ll be all, all, alright. Coy has, has it covered. They can’t, can’t find out,” said Sid calmly.
