Chapter Ninteen
Loyalty Over Everything
“Loyalty over everything. That’s what it’s supposed to be.” Seven said as they entered the house. Ball led the way and was afraid to turn around, knowing that Seven would put a bullet straight through his head. “Go in the basement. I want to show you something.” Seven said. Speechless, Ball followed his orders and headed to the door that led to the basement. Ball walked down the stairs trying to brace himself for impact. They reached the final stair and Ball noticed the whole goon squad was downstairs waiting on them. Everyone had sad looks on their faces and Ball stopped in his tracks. Seven walked around him and stood in front of him with watery eyes. “I can’t believe it.” Seven pointed his gun and Ball closed his eyes. Seven continued, “She’s a federal agent.”
Ball frowned in confusion and opened his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. He saw Seven flip the gun around, giving him the weapon.
“You have to do it. None of us can,” Seven said as he shook his head and stepped to the side. Ball looked past him and the members of the goon squad parted, revealing what was behind them. It was Lola. She was tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth.
“What?” he said as he didn’t understand what was going on. He saw Lola sitting there bound to a chair with tears streaming down her face. “What the fuck is this?” he asked.
“Lola. She is a federal agent. She’s been working with the feds since the beginning,” Seven said as one of the goons passed him an envelope. Seven then handed the envelope to Ball. Ball slowly grabbed and opened it. Ball took out the pictures and saw a young Lola in a photo wearing a police uniform. He flipped through the pictures and saw another one with her receiving a certificate after completing the police academy. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Lola was a cop all along.
“I can’t do it. You have to. You have to rock her to sleep,” Seven said as a single tear slid down his cheek. Ball looked at everyone in the room and they were crushed. Their leader was a snitch and none of them could muster up the nerve to kill her. They assumed since Ball was the newest member that he should be the one to pull the trigger. Everyone else in the room had been with Lola for over three years and it was too painful to stomach. Ball just stood there with the gun in his hand and everyone began to leave the basement shaking their head in shame. They knew that it was mandatory that she had to die. Seven was the last to go. He walked over to Lola and kissed her on the forehead. He couldn’t even look at her. “We were supposed to be family and this is how you repay me. Well now, I’ma send you back to the government in a pine box,” he said, getting angrier with every word that spilled out of his mouth. Seven slowly turned and looked back at Ball. Seven quickly turned cold and didn’t have any regards for Lola’s life. She went against the grain and now it was time to pay for her betrayal. Ball clenched his jaws knowing that if he didn’t kill Lola, Seven’s suspicions would instantly go toward him. It was time to show and prove and he had to do it. Seven stepped to the side, giving Ball a clear path to Lola. Ball raised his gun and walked toward Lola. Lola stared into Balls eyes and there was no fear there. She was willing to take it like a G, and get rocked to sleep forever. Ball knew that it could have easily been him in that chair. The only difference was that he hadn’t gotten his cover blown yet. How could Ball kill a woman that he had just made love to? He was torn but it was as if he could literally feel Seven breathing on the back of his neck. He knew that Dame had explained to him that he was exempt from everything except murder…but at that point he was in too deep. He had to pull the trigger or potentially lose his own life. Ball mouthed, “I’m sorry,” to Lola and put the gun to her head. Lola didn’t flinch. She slowly nodded her head and smiled with her eyes. It was as if she was saying,
I understand what you have to do.
Ball closed his eyes and ...
“Hold up! I can’t watch this shit. Get this over with and put her in the trunk,” Seven said coldly as he exited the basement. Seven was in his element and didn’t give a fuck. Ball watched as he climbed the stairs and disappeared into darkness. Ball quickly focused his attention back on Lola and dropped to his knees. He swiftly ripped the duct tape from her mouth and she gasped for air.
“Listen, we don’t have a lot of time. I want you to run up these stairs and out the back door. There is a path to your left when you get out of here. Go that way and run like hell. I’m going to shoot at you, but I promise I won’t hit you. I just want you to run like hell and don’t look back, okay?” Ball whispered as he frantically untied her from the chair.
“Get out before he finds out about you too,” Lola said as tears streamed down her eyes. She knew all along. It all began to make sense to Ball. It wasn’t a mistake that Lola booked the fight tickets that caused the initial meeting with them. She was working all along. But why? How could a real bitch like Lola be a federal agent? She was one of the most real people Ball had ever met: male or female. She was a gangster to the core and he couldn’t believe what was unfolding. He had to ask her.
“Why? Why did you get into this? Your father was a hustler ... and you became a cop?” Ball asked in a whisper trying to make sense of the crazy situation.
“The truth is ...” Lola said as the tears flowed freely. “I hated my father. Do you know why my mother got killed?” she broke down once again, burying her face in her hands. “My mother died off of a pack my father gave her. Right in front of me! Do you know what that does to a little girl’s mind? Huh? My father went to jail, leaving me to fend for myself and enter the system. I hated him for that. So I promised that I would destroy and seek revenge on behalf of my mother. That’s when I joined the police force. I hate drug dealers. Drug dealers tore my family apart.” Lola confessed as she broke down in Ball’s arms. Ball could feel her pain and was at a loss for words. Not knowing what to say to console the heartbroken woman. He knew that they did not have much time so he grabbed her by her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
“Look, you have to go. You have to run and never look back,” Ball said as he looked at Lola. For a split second she began to look like Zoey. He was bugging out. He stood up and whispered to her. “Go!’. And with that she took off up the stairs and out of the door. He waited for a few second to let her get a head start and ran behind her screaming.
“Come here bitch!” He yelled with the gun in-hand. He rushed out and began to fire shots in the air as he saw Lola disappear into the night. Seven and the crew came running out moments later and Ball began to put on an act by grabbing his crotch area.
“What the fuck happened?” Seven asked as he looked around in complete confusion.
“She got away!” Ball screamed as he bent over, faking an injury.
“How? She was tied up. Fuck!” Seven screamed, which was something that he rarely did.
“I know, I know. That’s my fault. I untied her. I couldn’t shoot her while she was tied up. I started feeling guilty. I just couldn’t do it to her fam.” Ball explained.
“Damn!” Seven said as he put both hands on his hips and shook his head in disbelief. “Load up fellas. It’s time to go. This place will be crawling with feds in no time,” Seven said before he headed back into the house. Ball looked into the darkness and took a deep breath. He knew that his time was running short. Whoever notified Seven about Lola would eventually bring Ball’s situation to light. Ball knew that he wouldn’t be as lucky as Lola. Seven was ready to kill Lola after years of friendship. He didn’t know then, but that would be the last time he would ever see Lola Banks. Seven knew that his time was running out and he was going to hand over the empire and play the back. Ball was to be the next Dopeman. He was about to put him on to his plug, young Carter of the Diamond Cartel. The supposed drop-off was a week ahead and Seven vowed that it would be his last shipment. He was done.
The eighteen-foot speedboat zoomed across the top of the ocean’s water, hitting each wave at almost eighty miles per hour. Seven smiled while a cigar hung out the left side of his mouth and the sun beamed down on his skin. He looked over and saw the other speedboat was neck to neck with him while his right hand man steered the watercraft. Ordinary boatmen wouldn’t dare push an $80,000 luxury watercraft to the max; but they weren’t ordinary boaters.... they were street millionaires that just so happen to be in boats.
An all-white linen shirt hung on Seven’s shoulders perfectly, and he left the buttons unfastened to allow the wind to blow through the expensive fabric while displaying his slight gut. He glanced over at Ball, who was driving the other boat, and laughed aloud as he knew that he had won the race. Seven slowed down after he passed the marker and threw both of his hands up in victory. As the other boat approached, Seven looked at Ball and smiled.
“I want my money all in ones,” Seven teased as they had just bet $20,000 on the thirty-second race.
“It’s nothing,” Ball spat back with a smile as he tossed his anchor over board and put the engine an idle. Seven did the same and put out his cigar as he looked down at his watch and saw they were right on time.
“Packages should be here any minute now,” Seven whispered under his breath as he scanned over the massive ocean while he put his hand over his brow, blocking the beaming sun rays. Just as expected, a single engine jet came across the skies, leaving a trail of white smoke as the aircraft zoomed through the clouds. Ball looked in the sky and watched as duct taped packages fell from the jet and landed in the water only a few yards away from them. Seven immediately grew a grin on his face and began to think about the money he would get when he turned the powder substance that was in the packages into green bills. Seven looked over at Ball and nodded his head while giving him a smile as if he was saying “Time to get to the money,” and Ball returned the smile as he rubbed his hands together.
“Yo, remember this spot ... the drop-off is always made on the fifteenth marker,” Seven instructed Ball as he pointed to the ocean marker. Ball made a mental note so he would remember where to pick up the dope next time around. Seven signaled Ball to hop over in his boat and Ball quickly did just that. Seven, while the boat was idle, guided it to the spot where the packages were dropped.
“Help me out,” Seven said as he grabbed a long steel pole with a net on the end of it and began retrieving the dope from the water. Ball helped him load the oversized duffle bags onto the boat, both of them containing fifty kilos each. They both loaded it onto the boat and a patrol boat was approaching them fast.
“Ah shit ... we got company,” Ball said as he grew uneasy. He noticed a boat approaching them, which contained three uniformed men. A huge U.S. Coast Guard logo resided on the side of their speedboat and the sight alone made Ball’s heart skip a beat.
“Relax. Just be calm,” Seven instructed as he continued to load the bags onto the boat. “Good evening gentlemen,” Seven said as shook his hands dry and rolled up his sleeves. Ball’s heart began to beat rapidly as he looked at the badges on the guards that occupied the boat.
“What’s going on here?” the man who seemed to be in charge asked.
“Not much. My friend and I are just enjoying the beautiful ocean,” Seven said with a smirk on his face.
“Oh, I see,” the guard responded.
Seven reached into his glove compartment, pulled out a brown paper bag, and tossed it over to the boat where the guards were.
“Same as always,” Seven said as looked into the eyes of the guard. “And smile ... y’all making my man nervous over here,” he added. Everyone, except Ball, burst into laughter as they saw the beads of sweat forming on Ball’s forehead. Ball broke down and released a smile too, sensing that everything was all good.
The guard slipped the bag into his inner vest and pulled off just as quickly as he pulled up.
“It’s like that, huh?” Ball asked as he couldn’t believe that Seven had the police on his payroll. Seven slowly nodded his head in agreement as he pulled his cigar from his top pocket and lit it, blessing the clear air with Cuban cigar smoke.
“You trust that he won’t turn on you?” Ball asked trying to understand the angles of the game.
“It’s not that I trust him ... I trust greed. I trust that the money that I’m giving him every month keeps him loyal to me. Always trust greed.... It will never let you down,” Seven explained as he began to pull the anchor out of the water. Ball soaked up the game Seven was giving him, and he admired the way Seven looked at the game as if it was chess.... Every move was strategic and well thought out.
“This is my last flip and I’m done with the game for good,” Seven said as he sat in the driver’s chair. He took a deep breath and stared into the ocean, obviously in deep thought. Seven grew a somber look on his face as new thoughts emerged in his mind. “I have to do it for Li’l Rah,” Seven said.
“How is he holding up?” Ball asked, knowing that he was suffering from leukemia.
“Not so good ... The doctor said he has about a year left to live,” Seven continued as he turned his head away from Ball, not wanting him to see the hurt in his eyes.
“Damn,” Ball said under his breath as his heart dropped from of the horrible news.
“That’s why I’m about to flip this last shipment and hang it up for good. I’m leaving everything to you. I’m done with this game,” Seven said as he looked into the eyes of his protégé. Seven had a lot of love for Ball and in many ways he reminded him of himself. “I’m going to move to Florida with my son and make his last year the best year of his life. We’ll go to Disney World every day, and we’ll live life to the fullest. We are going to fight this battle head on and hope for the best.”