Lost Boy, page 23
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because he’s in the other room.”
“Okay, okay! So, what’s up?”
“Hear me out! He’s packing a bag to go out of town...I don’t know where. He did mention somewhere in the country. Said it would be for a few days but wouldn’t tell me nothing else. Except that he’d be leaving early in the morning.”
“Good...good, can you meet me...”
“No...no, gotta go...bye!” Cleo hung up the phone quickly.
Hulie must’ve been walking up on her. Sunshine kept the number in her memory and speed-dial in case she called back. Then she’d know who it was. She needed to call a good friend of hers she’d been thinking about lately. Mark...aka, Muslim. He set her up with that dude that did Moonie G in the jailhouse. Maybe, he could find her someone to do, Hulie. Yeah, just in case shit went south, he’d have to be murked quick.
She got out of the car and walked up the walkway to her spacious, two-story home. Not being able to shake Cleo from her mind, wondering what was up with that Jesse dude? Maybe he might want to make a quick dollar, she grinned. The Devil that whispered in her ear was winning the battle and winning easily. She was obviously, oblivious to the fact that Jesse was the one Mark used to murder Moonie G and also, the reason why Q was dead...totally oblivious...to the fact.
Chapter Fourteen
Tangie couldn’t understand for the life of her, why her assistant was cutting her eyes like she was, with her lips poked out. Of, course, it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been running back and forth to Walterboro for almost a month now. Or the fact that every time she left or returned Tangie would say: “Missy, please look over this case for me...girlfriend.”
Yeah, the girlfriend thing was what did it. Missy didn’t mind looking over cases since she was going to Law school anyway. So, it was good hands-on training, all Tangie had to do was show her ass up in court. But Missy was starting to feel like she was blindly helping out. Then there was just plain old getting used and Missy now knew she was getting played.
Tangie shuffled through some papers on her desk and said, “Missy...I thought I told you to find me the Davis case out in Edisto...”
That was the last straw that almost always broke the Camel’s back. No one ever knew what it looked like, but it always sounded like this.
“Fuck that, Tangie! I ain’t you goddamned slave and shit. Find it for yourself!”
Tangie’s eyebrows crashed together like a bad car accident on her forehead. She needed to vent too, so she said fuck it. “Hell, I might as well, but damn, I thought I had an assistant to do this shit for me. Look, if you don’t wanna work here...shit can be arranged.”
“Arranged...arranged, oh hell no!” Missy dropped some papers to the floor and stomped over to her desk with both hands pounding down and said, “You don’t think I know that. Hell, any Lawyer worth their salt would jump on me in a fuckin’ heartbeat. Hell, Tangie, I damn near been handling your caseloads for a minute. And I will say, my goddamned approval rating is off the fuckin’ hizzy. So, if you want to run around handling shit you ain’t got a fuckin’ clue on or no goddamned control over...Miss control freak...then fuck it. Yeah, fuck it...cut me loose and I’ll be working for the same goddamned Prosecutor bringing your ass up on Misconduct and Ethics charges. I tell you what, I bet you, I’ll have the paperwork then. You got that?”
Tangie looked up at her and her mouth started to quiver. Then tears flooded her eyes and just like that, she hung her head and cried like a baby. “I’m s...s...sorry...Missy! I’m s...s...sorry...”
“Damn!” Missy said, sucking her teeth.
She felt for her, after all, they were friends. It was Tangie who suggested she go to Law school anyway and it was Tangie who’d brought her on as her assistant, giving her free rein over the office. It was Tangie who helped her out with bills and groceries when times were hard on the boulevard. Tangie had even put her husband in rehab, bought her twins presents for Christmases and Birthdays. It was Tangie...and now she needed Missy’s help.
Missy walked around the desk and hugged Tangie. “C’mon now, girl...I’m sorry, too! Don’t cry, we’ll work this out...like we always do.”
Tangie looked up at her. “I just want to find my brother. He’s all I got, Missy. I know he’s in trouble, and I ain’t never been there for him. I’m sorry!” She lowered her head. “If you want to go...I understand...”
Missy reached into her desk and pulled out some napkins, then wiped Tangie’s reddened, wet face. “Girl...I ain’t going nowhere. You hear me? We gonna find your old big-headed brother, and when we do...I’ma kick his ass!”
Tangie smiled and said, “Maybe, I should just let it go...”
“Let it go...let it go!” Missy stood up. “You better not let it go. Not after all we’ve been through together. You ain’t never said let it go when it came to me.” She stomped in front of the desk and snatched up the papers she’d dropped, then stormed toward the door, opened it, and looked back over her shoulder. “And I won’t let it go...when it comes to you, either.” She turned, facing her, and balanced the papers in her arm. “Look...I got those files somewhere on my desk. I’ll get them in a minute, we’ll go over them and see what we working with.”
Tangie smiled, she always knew Missy was a good friend, but never knew on what level. She would have been there for her anyway, she was loyal like that. But Missy proved one thing to her...best fuckin’ friend forever...BFF, and another fuckin’ F.
‘Now ain’t that some shit?’ she thought as she answered back. “Okay!”
Missy closed the door partially, then swung it back open. “Girl, clean up, that fine ass Sheriff from Walterboro is out here waiting on you.” Tangie got up and started racing around, this caused Missy to smile. “Your makeup kit is in the top drawer...left-hand side. A fresh blouse is hanging up in the closet toward the back and of course, the toothpaste and lipstick is in the bathroom. Damn, girl...what the hell would you do without me?” Missy laughed and closed the door.
Tangie looked at her as she walked off, talking to herself more than likely saying some shit about her and smiled. “Don’t know...really don’t know!” she replied then started rushing around in the order Missy had told her, cleaning herself up.
The Sheriff from Walterboro flipped through the scanner in his car as he waited for Tangie to come downstairs. What started out as give me a couple minutes, I’ll meet you downstairs, ended up being a half hour. Tangie had decided to damn near get a full makeover as far as he was concerned. He personally came to Charleston to pick her up and she had the nerve to take her time like he didn’t have nothing to do.
‘She’s always been like that,’ he thought, even when they were in college together.
He had the nerve to try and date her, but he was much too clumsy of a young man for her. She liked the athletic, jock, brutish types, but never the less, they still became close friends. Tangie always asked him why he never went into the practice of law instead of public service, he was smart like that and real quick. He would always explain that policing was just another aspect of the law. Amidst heavy debates, she agreed and even respected his decision. He definitely was no dim light at all, he graduated with a GPA of 4.5 easy. He was damn near at the top of his class. He made different choices with his life after graduating and getting married early and having kids was a choice, he’d made that Tangie didn’t.
He really didn’t mind at first, entertaining her thoughts of finding Jabari, but now, it was damn near becoming work. Interrupting the heavy caseload he had also, but she was his friend and he too, was loyal. He tapped on the steering wheel impatiently as she finally scampered out of the door to the car. He leaned over and opened it, feeling like spazzing out, but the wait was well worth it. She was fine...a dime piece and if he wasn’t happily married with two beautiful daughters, he definitely would have made a move on her, a long time back when she’d first came to town.
“Damn, girl...what took you so long?” He asked like he didn’t already know.
Tangie smiled apologetically. “You know...girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff?” he repeated.
“C’mon now, Bobby. You got three women in your household...don’t act like you don’t know.”
“But damn, Tangie! I came all the way here on a flam. I, the goddamned Sheriff, transported a prisoner here just so I could pick you up. Hell, that’s why I got deputies. You know how that looks or how it will look when I get back?”
Tangie leaned towards him and stroked the side of his arm. “C’mon now, Denita ain’t having none of that foolishness.”
He frowned and poked out his lips. “Yeah, but even she thinks that you might be pushing it a little.”
“Maybe...” Tangie leaned back. “Okay, this one last week and it’ll be over.”
He snickered. “Yeah, you said that three weeks ago.” He put the car in gear and headed to Highway 17 towards Walterboro. Halfway there, after a little silence and small talk ‘bout his girls, he said, “Look, Tangie, if your brother is in Walterboro and he’s mixed up in anything illegal. I got to do my job...and you too.”
“Yeah...I know, but at least I might be able to get him some help.”
“Sometimes a man don’t want no help. Then what?”
“Bobby, I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there.”
They pulled into a gas station a little way out of town and she started stretching her eyes again, looking for any signs or clues of her brother. She stared at people, watching them.
The Sheriff came out and pulled her to the side. “You’re making people uncomfortable,” he whispered. “And they’re complaining. C’mon now I got my people out looking.”
She blushed. “I’m sorry, but I saw him that day, right here. Just thought maybe I’d get lucky, that’s all.”
He opened the door to the car, and she hopped back in.
“Good police work requires no luck,” he commented.
She smiled. ‘Yeah, that’s something, Bobby would say,’ she thought. ‘Always on that Mister Goddamned Cop shit.’
They pulled off again and he suggested maybe they should cruise downtown on Main Street.
Tangie nodded in agreement. “When we finish, I need to get a room also. You can just drop me off.”
Bobby laughed. “Oh, yeah, those rumors. My wife loves it, she goes to church, and they tell her that the Sheriff was seen dropping a woman off at a hotel. Then she plays along with it, you just wait until I see him...yeah, she loves that shit!”
Tangie laughed. “Tell Denita I’m sorry. Promise I won’t hold you forever.”
“No...you can tell her yourself. She invited you over or dinner...again.”
Tangie playfully punched his arm. “Oh, so you don’t want me over. Wait till I tell, Nita.”
“Please don’t do that...I got enough problems.”
They shared the laugh as Bobby cruised downtown, mostly near drugstores in hopes of spotting, Jabari.
****
Jabari’s mind wasn’t there today, anxiety had him damn near ready to cut and run. Why? He didn’t have the slightest idea. It was weird like that, ever since he’d spoken to Dondi. That was all he could think about...hauling ass. It seemed like he was about to move on to bigger and better things. He had at least five gees saved up and he was ready. For what...he didn’t have a clue!
“Maybe I might or we...me and Dondi might catch a bus out to Cali somewhere. Or slow drive and get to know each other like that.” Jabari said to himself.
The more he thought about her, the better it all seemed to look, but every now and then the reality of it all popped into his mind. He was nothing but an orphaned, dopefiend and she was no better, she was a two-bit hooker. Where could they go? Who would want to be around them? Oh yeah, those questioned danced in his head regularly. But he never shared them with anyone.
“Naw, fuck that!” he said.
He went on a couple of websites and checked out a few places, far away, across seas, with a lot of white people dreaming. They seemed to be more understanding.
“I guess that’s why I sort of clicked with Double D and them.”
They realized one thing about themselves, they were, what they were and they didn’t blame no one for it. Jabari had a little while to go to get to that level. He figured maybe this Dondi thing might his second chance. Hell, even if they didn’t make it as a couple, they’d still have a chance to live out their lives a whole lot more comfortable than they were before. Or at least afford better dope. He knew one thing for sure, Rip would’ve been damn proud of him for getting his shit together.
“Damn, I miss that dude.”
Jabari glanced over at Smoak, still in conversation, talking to him. Normally, Jabari would’ve been right there listening since Smoak usually had some good shit on his mind. He gave him a hands-on of the business, at least the business of making meth and one damn thing he always fucked with Jabari about, was the one thing he wasn’t doing now...listening. Jabari looked back at him, he didn’t miss a beat, he was steady running his mouth.
“...you can also grow ice using gun blue lithium strips and red devil lye...but, either way, you make it...you got to clean it when you done making it with ether. You got that, Bari?”
Jabari was lost. Normally, he’d have him repeat it, but he wasn’t gonna use this shit once he got away from there anyway. Hell, with his luck...he’d blow his ass up.
“Yeah sure man, I got it!” Jabari replied.
There were many times when Jabari paid attention to Smoak because Smoak knew his shit that was a fact and in this ,game, you had to. They were already in the Hydrogen-Sudafed mix-stage and was starting to smoke it like a ham, to get it good and crystalized. The gas tank was wide open and all of a sudden, Jabari felt his pants vibrating.
“Damn cellphone!” he griped. He had to hurry up and cut it off.
Hell, with all the vapor that was in the air, and with the gas wide open, any sudden spark would blow their asses sky fuckin’ high. He back off slowly, looking toward the door. He figured he could step out real quick and fast and catch the call.
“It might be, Dondi.” He back up slowly.
Smoak was still running his mouth. “...anhydras is the name of the gas we using, Bari. You see, you get the ‘fedren out of it...along with the Sudafed...that’s where the speed comes from...”
Jabari made a move and opened the door a little bit, and a slight breeze blew through. It had just rained, and dew was still on the ground. The moisture, that’s what caught Smoak’s attention and he turned Jabari’s way with his face twisted.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Smoak yelled.
“What...”
“Close the fuckin’ door! Don’t you know that moisture in here will fuck around and blow this whole fuckin’ area like a goddamned space shuttle? I told your ass that shit!”
Jabari eased back in, Smoak’s hands were in the tub crystalizing the ice and he could see the hairs on his arm literally burnt. Jabari rushed toward him.
“No...no stay there!” Smoak looked at the gas. “Ease over there and...oh hell no! What is that? A fuckin’ cell phone...are you tryin’ to kill us!”
Jabari was had, Smoak was spazzing on him. Jabari really couldn’t blame him. He was already up, cutting the gas off and mumbling something under his breath about Jason kicking both of their asses...if not killing them. They’d fucked up a batch...costing fifty grand easy that was invested to make at least close to a quarter mil. That was a lot of money.
Smoak looked his way disgusted. “Just get out quick with that damn phone. I got this!”
Jabari slid out of the door quickly and all he heard was Smoak cussing his ass out. He was in for it, it was one thing to help out and shit, but it was another to break rules and fuck up money...that was huge. He knew he’d fucked up big time. He peered over at the ATV and figured he’d just get his money and dip. He looked at the numbers on his phone and sure enough, it was, Dondi. It was about a half hour or so past the time he’d given her to call him. He hopped in the ATV and headed toward the house.
Smoak busted out of the door. “Wait up!” he yelled.
Jabari hauled ass, once he got to the trailer, he ran in the back and snatched up his clothes. They were all bundled up in a duffel bag along with his cash. Double D was on his way out of the barn.
“Damn, I’ma have to kick his ass,” Jabari said to himself.
“Yo...Bari...wait up,” Double D said.
“Fuck it he probably knew already. Hell, man up, Bari...least hear him out.” Jabari told himself.
“Yo’ if you going to town. Pick up a case for me, okay. Got some people coming in, ya know.”
Double D didn’t have a clue. Smoak didn’t call him, for some reason, he didn’t call.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have left him back there,” Jabari said. “Okay...I’ll be back soon, we got to talk anyway.”
“Okay, cool...you a’ight, where’s Smoak?”
“He’ll be here.”
Double D started to turn and go back to the barn and said, “Going to pick up that chick? He looked down at Jabari’s bag.
“Yeah!”
“Cool, see you when you get back then. My keys are underneath the floorboard.”
“A’ight.”
Jabari got in the truck and peeled out up the road watching Double D as he headed back into the barn.
‘Damn,’ Jabari thought. ‘Once Smoak gets here and tell Jason what happened, he’s gonna wanna kick my ass.’
Jabari couldn’t worry about that, right now. It was getting later, so he dialed Dondi’s number.
****
The Sheriff was on is A game, establishing his presence. He did everything but kiss babies. Walterboro was growing fast, not the small hick town from years-gone-by. I-95 went straight through and it was fast becoming a haven for layovers, truckers, and even tourists. The Sheriff knew that, and he also knew that elections were not too far around the corner. Keep the business happy, the people safe and the money flowing...not necessarily in that order, but the biggest problem he had was drugs. He used a third of his staff on a task force for the gangs that pushed the dope, then another for task forces for burglaries and robberies as a result of drug usage, and the rest for patrolling what got him elected in the first place, the people’s safety, from the drug users. It was a lot, granted, but he was quite the politician and he winged it well.
