Authors: K. Elliott
Hector Gomez wore slacks, a
Lacoste
shirt and expensive loafers. He met Tommy in the lobby of the hotel. They walked into the lounge area and took a seat at a table in the corner.
Hector ordered two bottled waters. “I’m sorry about what happened with Juan. I hate that you guys lost your money like that.”
“So what can we do to make up our money? I know you’re sorry, but that’s not going to bring the money back.”
“I know, but I can’t give you your money back because I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Tommy looked frustrated. He didn’t respond. Instead, he thought about Manny and how they’d always done good business. His mind recalled Alicia’s father and the real estate proposition.
“Listen, Tommy, the only thing that I can really offer you is product.”
“How much am I worth?”
“I don’t know, maybe ten kilos.”
“Manny will tell you that I am worth a lot more.”
“I know you are, but things have gotten pretty rough since Manny got locked up.”
“You said you would make it up to us. Now how are you going to dot that?”
Hector sipped his water. “Have you ever sold pills?”
“What kind of pills? You mean like X?”
“Yeah.” Hector smiled.
“I ain’t never sold X. I’ve always been a coke man.”
“Listen, there is plenty of money in X. I mean, you can make millions in months.”
“Explain how.”
Hector looked around to make sure no one was listening. The lounge area was pretty empty, except for a an elderly white couple sitting at the bar, telling the bar tender boring stories about when they’d lived in Toronto.
“Okay. I can wholesale you the pills for four dollars each if you buy at least twenty-thousand dollars worth, and you can wholesale them to your friends for eight dollars. They go for twenty in the streets. The money will come so fast it will make your head hurt; trust me.”
“Twenty thousand dollars worth of pills … how in the hell will I get rid of those?”
“Man, believe me, it will not be a problem. Everybody takes pills. Everybody wants to feel ecstasy.”
“So when can we get the product?” Tommy asked, anxious to start his new venture.
“Whenever you come back with the money.”
“I got money now for the coke, but I didn’t bring money for the pills,” Tommy said. He had brought another hundred thousand dollars; and Twin had brought fifty thousand. “So front me the pills.”
“If I give you the X on consignment, I will need five per pill.”
“Cool.”
“Okay. I’ll go get the product, and we’ll meet in the lobby of the hotel in an hour.”
*****
“Nigga, that’s a smart move. Everybody is doing X.” “That’s what I’ve heard,” Tommy said.
“How much are we going to get?” JoJo asked.
“About twenty thousand worth at five dollars a pill for me. I’ll give
them to you and Twin for seven.”
“Cool. I’m with this. I can just get my girl to holler at the girls at the
club and get them to get the word out,” Twin said.
“I think we should wholesale the shit at maybe ten dollars a pill,
then come back for more,” JoJo said.
“That’s what I’m going to do,” Tommy said.
“You know somebody that would buy it wholesale?” Twin asked. “I’ll call my boy, Big Red, on the south side. That’s all he fucks
with,” JoJo said.
“Just wait til we get back and go holler at him,” Tommy said.
Hector brought a clear Ziploc bag full of X to Tommy’s hotel room. He dumped the pills onto the table. There were green ones, yellow ones, and pink ones. They had designs on them such as butterflies and Nike Swooshes. Some even had the Mercedes Benz symbol.
“Which ones are in the highest demand?” Tommy asked. “They all are, but the Nikes are popular here in Miami.” “Nikes, huh?” Tommy thought about the whole concept of the
pills. It was sheer genius. Someone had thought of putting these designs on the pills, branding the drugs, so the customers would recognize the product. Now his goal would have to be to make one of the designs his brand. The Nikes looked cool, but the ones with the Mercedes symbol would probably be better for a town like Charlotte. He wanted to sell his customers a dream. He wanted to sell them pleasure and sheer ecstasy.
“You’ll see, Tommy. I’m going to make you a multimillionaire.” “So how come Manny never gave me a chance to sell X?” “See, Tommy, we’re kind of like a Syndicate. Manny does the
coke; I’m into the pills and my father sells the heroin, but it all goes to the same family. And the reason why we are so strong is because we are family and nobody is greedy.”
Tommy and Hector counted $150,000 for the coke; the pills were consigned, and the deal was confirmed with a handshake. Tommy promised to pay Hector back in two weeks … even if the pills weren’t sold.
“How do he know what we got?” Tommy asked. “You shouldn’t have called him yet.”
“I told him that we should have about twenty thousand pills.”
“How much he wants to pay?”
“Nine dollars a pill.”
“I don’t want to sell them,” Tommy said.
“What? Nigga, are you crazy?” Twin said.
“No. I got a plan, one that’s going to make us rich.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I want to retail this shit for fourteen dollars a pill. We want to pick the pill that gives the most pleasure then sell it for less than twenty dollars. And we’ll set up pill houses.”
“Pill houses?” Twin asked.
“You know, a place where customers can get their supply.”
“I think I see where you’re going with this,” JoJo said.
Tommy was in deep thought. He knew that if he could implement his plan successfully, he would have the million dollars soon.
“What about the coke?” Twin asked.
“We are going to do both. We’re going to have what everybody wants,” Tommy said.
“Okay, who’s going to take this shit back to North Carolina?” JoJo asked.
“Shit. I’ll drive the coke back myself,” Tommy said.
“What about the pills?” Twin asked.
“Shit. One of y’all drive that shit back,” Tommy said.
“I can get my girl to come down. She can fly back with the pills.”
JoJo stared at Twin. “Are you sure about that? I mean, none of us know how much time pills carry.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but I know I ain’t going to take the shit back along with the coke,” Tommy said.
“Fuck it. I’m calling my girl. We can put this shit in balloons and get her and one of her girlfriends to carry. I mean, who would ever suspect two white bitches?”
“Man, your girl has already been approached by the feds. What do you mean
who would ever suspect her
? She’s already suspected,” JoJo said.
“But what else can we do?”
“Let’s let his girl do this just one time,” Tommy said.
“Okay, just this one time. But we gotta do something else after this,” JoJo said.
Once they were in Twin’s hotel room, he explained the mission to them. He told them that they would be compensated greatly for their services.
“What do you consider
compensated greatly
?” Morgan asked. “Two thousand dollars each.”
Morgan nodded her head “Yes, this would be worth my time.” “So are you with it?” Twin asked.
“Yes, but I have one more question: How are we going to conceal
the drugs?”
“Twin pulled out a pack of black balloons. “You stuff the pills in
here and then swallow them.”
“I don’t understand. If I swallow them, how are you going to get
them?”
Twin looked at Morgan. “You really are a fuckin blonde, aren’t
you? If you swallow them the only way it’s going to come out is if you
shit, right?”
“How disgusting,” Morgan said.
“That’s business. Now, are you with it or not?”
“Yeah, I’m with it, but how many pills do you have?”
“About twenty thousand pills.”
“Twenty thousand pills? Are you fuckin stupid? There is no way
that two of us can swallow that many pills.”
Twin was silent for a moment. “We’ll just have to … get you a
rental car and you drive them back.”
“That’s twelve hours.”
“And?”
“I’m going to need at least two hundred dollars more,” Morgan
said.
“You know what? You’re one greedy-ass bitch,” Twin said. “That’s my price. Take it or leave it.”
“I ain’t got know choice but to take it. But as soon as I can get
somebody else to do this shit, your ass is out.”
“Whatever,” Morgan said.
“Let’s go to Hertz to get the car,” Twin said.
A little more than a week later, Tommy and his friends were in Miami again. It was ladies night at Club Sky, and the line was comprised mostly of women taking full advantage of the opportunity. Tommy pulled up to the club and waved for Kenny, the huge bouncer, to come closer.
“Hey, Tommy. What’s up?”
“Not much. Just wanted to park my car in front of the club.” Kenny placed his hand underneath his chin as if he were in deep
Tommy pulled out a roll of money and peeled off a couple of hundred dollar bills. “I need you to watch the car while I’m in the club.”
Kenny stuffed the money in his pockets. “I gotcha, Tommy, and I’ll get you and the boys in the club free. You can cut the line.”
Tommy handed Kenny the keys. “If you need to move the car, move it, but come get me soon as you move. I don’t need nobody breaking into my car to steal my shit.”
“I gotcha, big man,” Kenny said.
Inside the club Tommy, Twin, and JoJo went straight to VIP. Tommy ordered two bottles of Cristal. When the bottles arrived, so did the girls. There were tall ones, short ones, thin ones, thick ones ... They all wanted to know the big man buying the expensive champagne.
Twin looked at the girls with a disgusted look then whispered to JoJo, “Thirsty bitches.”
Big Red, the ecstasy dealer from the south side, walked up to JoJo. “What’s up, nigga?”
“Nothing much.”
“Hey, man, I need some of those butterflies.”
“We ain’t selling the butterflies.”
“Why not?”
“Cuz, that’s how we make our money.”
“Listen, man, everybody wants the butterflies, and you give me this dolphin bullshit.”
“I can’t help you, man.”
“I will give you twelve dollars a pill, but I want twenty thousand pills.”
“You got $240,000?”
“Listen, I got it, man. I just need the product.”
JoJo pulled Tommy to the side. “Hey, that’s my nigga, Big Red, right there. He wants twenty thousand butterflies.”
“He got the money for them?”
“Yeah. He even said he would pay twelve dollars a pill.”
Tommy figured the profit in his head. “When does he need them?”
“Now.”
“Well, you know we don’t have them now, but we can get them in a couple of days for him.”
“Cool. I’ll tell him.” JoJo stepped over to Red. “Hey, I can get the pills to you by Wednesday.”
“That’s cool,” Red said. “I’ll buy the next two bottles of champagne.”
JoJo called Robert A. Moray, the name on the business card. The robbery had been on his mind ever since it had occurred. Some guy answered the phone on the first ring.
“Hey. Good morning to you, sir. I’m JoJo.”
“Good morning. How can I help you?”
“Just wondering if I could come by your place of business to look
at some appliances.”
“I don’t work like that. You tell me what you want, and I can bring
it by your house for you to look at.”
“Why can’t I come by your spot to look at what I’m buying?” “Either we do business my way or no way,” Moray said. “Okay, I need a washer and dryer.”
“You want the washer-dryer combination or you want them separate?” “The combination.”
“Okay, where do you live?”
“I live downtown at the Summit Grandview Apartments.” “On Morehead?”
“Yeah.”
Moray took a deep breath. “That’s a long way from me. Can we
meet somewhere closer?”
“Where are you coming from?”
“Pine Valley.”
“Okay, let’s meet at the car wash on Clanton Road.” “That’s still kinda far, but I guess I can make it there.” “How long will it take you?”
“I can be there in thirty minutes,” Moray said.
“See you in thirty.”
JoJo grabbed his .45 from the bedroom closest then loaded it.
Moray was there already, in a white commercial van that advertised Moray’s Used Appliances. He was sitting on the bumper of the van when JoJo pulled up. He looked to be in his fifties. His hair was peppered with gray, braided, and slightly thinning at the top. He was wearing a white T-shirt. His arms were covered with tattoos and he was smoking a Newport.
“JoJo?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m Robert.” He extended his hand.
JoJo shook his hand, and then he examined Robert. “The washer and dryer is on the back of the van.”
“Okay, first I have to call my wife. I want her to come and look at it.” “What kind of bullshit is this?” Moray said. He puffed his Newport.
“Hell, if I had known this, I wouldn’t have even came here.” “Calm down, man. I have to do this if I’m going to spend money
with you.”
“Man, this ain’t no house you buying; this is just a funky-ass washer
and dryer, and you gotta consult your wife?”
JoJo didn’t say anything; he just ducked into his car, called
Tommy and Twin, and told them to come to the carwash. Moray was on his third Newport when the Yukon Denali pulled
up. “What the hell is going on here, man? You ain’t trying to rob me,
are you?”
“Calm down, Mr. Moray.”
“Calm down? What the hell is going on? You tell me that your
wife is coming; the next thing I know, you have your fucking crew
come up here.” Moray threw his cigarette down but lit another one. Tommy and Twin walked up to Robert.
JoJo introduced them. “These are my friends, Tommy and Twin. Moray squinted his eyes. “Why are they here?”
“Well, you see, Robert, there has been a robbery.”
“What the fuck does that have to do with me?”
JoJo opened the car door and pulled out the jacket, “See this
jacket?”
“Yeah… but I’m still not getting it.”
“This was found at the scene of the crime.”
“Okay… and?” Moray said, and puffed the cigarette.
“Your business cards were found in the jacket.”
“Let me see the jacket,” Moray said.
JoJo passed him the jacket. Moray tried putting the jacket on. It
was too big. “Okay, this jacket doesn’t fit. Now what?”
“Your business cards was found in the jacket,” JoJo said then
passed him one of the business cards.
Moray looked at the cards. “Yeah, these are the cards. These
are the same cards that I made two weeks ago on my computer.” “Whose jacket is this?” Tommy asked.
Moray looked at Tommy with intense eyes. “Now how in the hell
would I know some shit like that? I don’t know whose jacket this is.
Look at it. This is some shit that you young hip-hoppers wear, man.
I’m fifty-one years old. Believe me—this ain’t my shit.”
“So, whose shit is it?”
“I don’t know. Somebody has tried to set me up.”
“That’s for damn sho,” Tommy said.
“And you see, Mr. Moray, you can very well get your fuckin head
blown off for some shit that you claim you don’t know anything about,”
JoJo said.
Moray threw his hands up. “I don’t know anything about this shit.
Really, I don’t.”
“Okay, cool. You don’t know anything about this shit, but you
know somebody. Who the fuck have you given a card to?” Tommy
asked.
Moray put his hand underneath his chin.
Tommy pulled out his 9 mm, but didn’t point it.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Moray, my girl was raped by the same muthafucka that robbed
his sister.”
“I remember giving some cards to this nigga in the pawn shop …
short, rough- looking guy with braids. Real grimy looking cat. Looked
almost like a crackhead.”
“This guy was dark skinned?” Tommy said.
“How do you know?” Moray asked.
“I seen him,” Tommy said. “The nigga had me tied up.” “Well, if you seen him, you know that I’m not who you’re looking
for.”
“We know that, but we know you might know who he is.” “Let me see the jacket again,” Moray asked.
JoJo passed the jacket to Moray.
He hesitated before speaking. “You know what? This is my son’s
jacket.”
“Who is your son?”
“My son Lee ain’t no robber, though. The nigga is a square.” “We didn’t ask you this; I just want to know who your son is.” “Hey, man, like I said, my son ain’t no robber.”
“Let us be the judge of that,” JoJo said angrily.
Moray pulled his cell phone out then dialed his son’s number. His son answered the phone. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, my ass. I want to know why the fuck was your jacket at the
scene of a robbery.”
“What jacket?”
“Your
Phat Farm
jacket.”
“I haven’t seen that jacket in almost two weeks.”
“Did you loan it to somebody.”
“No, not that I remember.”
“Somebody is trying to set you up, Lee,” Moray said. JoJo snatched the phone from him.
“You better explain why the fuck your jacket was at my sister’s
house or else I’mma fuck your dad up.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about blowing your daddy’s brains out if you don’t tell
me why your jacket was found at my sister house after it had been
broken into.”
Moray pulled out another Newport and lit it on the wrong end. “Hey, let me think.”
Tommy cocked the hammer of his gun then put the gun to Moray’s
head.
“Nigga, did you hear that? My man has the gun up to your daddy’s
head.” JoJo put the phone up to Moray’s mouth.
“Son, tell them what you know.”
JoJo jerked the phone away from Moray’s mouth. “You hear your
daddy, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, what do you know?”
“Jason did it. Jason Black. Do you know him?”
JoJo looked at Tommy and Twin. “Jason Black … Do this name
sound familiar to you?”
“No, not to me,” Twin said promptly.
“No, I ain’t never heard of him.”
“Where the fuck does Jason live?” JoJo asked.
“I don’t know, but I can find out,” Lee said. “Please don’t hurt my
old man.”
“You got a number I can reach Jason at?”
“Yeah, it’s 704-555-8777.”
“A’ight. I’m letting your old man go if this number works.” JoJo
terminated the call then dialed Jason’s number. Nobody answered.
A Fifty Cent song played on his voice mail. Then JoJo heard a voice.
“
Yo, this is Black. Leave your digits and I might hit ya back.
” JoJo dialed again.
This time a man said, “Hello.” The same voice that was on the
voice mail. “Yeah, this is Black. Who the fuck is this, blowing up my
phone?”
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Muthafucka, you called
me
.”
“Okay, I need to see you. I think you might know something about
a robbery that occurred at my sister’s house.”
“Nigga, who the fuck is you, and who the hell is yo sister?” “Can you meet me somewhere?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Joe, Joe Ingram.”
“I ain’t meeting nobody unless you got some money. My time is
valuable.”
“You coward-ass muthafucka.”
“Fuck you, nigga. J-Black ain’t afraid of nobody. I will fuck you up.” “Bring your guns, nigga.”
“I got plenty of them.”
Tommy grabbed the phone from JoJo. “Let me speak to him. I
know his voice.”
“Who the fuck is this?” J-Black said.
“This is the guy you tied up.”
“I’ve tied up so many coward-ass niggas in my day.”
“You raped my girlfriend.”
“Oh…” Black chuckled. “This is that fat muthafucka from the lake,
huh?”
“Exactly. Why don’t you meet us somewhere? I need to ask you
some questions.”
“Fuck you, Nigga. I ain’t meeting you nowhere.”
“Okay. We got your number; you know we can get your address.” “I don’t give a fuck. I ain’t running nowhere.” He hung up. Tommy passed the phone back to JoJo.
JoJo called Lee. “I want you to show us where Jason Black lives.” “I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Because he will kill me. That’s why.”
“Hey, man, this shit ain’t worth it,” Twin finally said. “I mean, we’re
making money again; let’s leave this alone.”
“Either you show us where this nigga live or we gonna hurt your
dad, nigga.”
Moray looked as if he was about to run.
“Where are you?”
“Carwash on Clanton Road.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”