A Gangsta Twist Saga (30 page)

Tears fell slowly from Mama-Mama's eyes as she said, “Keno, you boys have been family to me for a very long time. Just because we're not blood-related doesn't mean a thing to me. Out of all of these years, have I ever asked any of you for anything? Have I?

“No, ma'am,” Keno answered with his head bowed.

“Well, I'm asking y'all for something now. Will y'all please leave this alone, at least for the time being? My heart wouldn't be able to take it if anything else happened to someone I care for. Please, baby. Y'all sit down and help us through this rough time like families are supposed to. Please!”

Red, Keno, Wild Bill and Bo-Pete each took turns hugging Mama-Mama and reassuring her that they would stay and do as she asked them to. They all sat down and resumed waiting for the doctors to come and tell them whether or not Tazneema was going to live or die.

The room became silent, until Taz's cell started ringing. He pulled his phone off of his belt clip, checked the caller ID and answered it. “What's up, O.G.?”

“What's up, baby boy? Look, I was out of line the last time we spoke. This shit is really getting hectic for me. You have to understand that everything we've been doing is for a very important reason.”

“Yeah, I feel you, O.G., but right now I got a lot of shit on my plate. That shit with you is like way on the back burner, for real.”

“What's up out that way, Babyboy?” Won asked curiously.

“'Neema got shot.”

“
What?
When did this happen? And why in the hell haven't you called me?” Won screamed.

“My mind is on a million and one different things right now, O.G. I can't think straight enough to take a piss, let alone think about callin' you and lettin' you know what's what.”

“I understand, Babyboy. Look, I'll be on the next thing smoking. I should be there some time tomorrow. How is she?”

“She's in surgery now. We're all here waiting and praying that everything goes her way.”

“How's Mama-Mama?”

“You already know how she gets down, O.G. She's put everything in God's hands.”

“Is Tari there?”

“Nah. Shit, I haven't told her either, and she works in this fuckin' place.”

“So, y'all are at Mercy?”

“Yeah.”

“All right, let me get my flight shit together. We'll talk some more when I get into town.”

“All right, O.G.”

“Your boy Bob will be flown into town in a couple of days. Magoo has everything set up out east. By the time I get there I'll have all of the details.”

“That's cool. At least something is goin' like it's supposed to.”

“Hold your head, Babyboy. Everything is going to be all right.”

“I hope you're right, O.G. I hope you're right. Out!” Taz said, and closed his phone.

Keno stared at Taz with raised eyebrows and asked, “What's he talkin' 'bout?”

“Bob's straight, and he should be home in a day or so.”

“That's cool. That's it?”

“Basically,” Taz answered as he reopened his phone and dialed Tari's home number. When he didn't get an answer, he left a message quickly explaining what happened to Tazneema over at Mama-Mama's house earlier. After he was finished, he turned toward Sacha and asked, “Are you straight, Li'l Mama? Why don't you go on back to my spot and get some rest. I'm not tryin' to have you gettin' sick on me or nothin'.”

Sacha shook her head no and said, “If you think I'd leave your side right now, you're out of your mind, Mr. Good. I'm going to be standing right next to you when they come out here and tell you that 'Neema is going to be just fine.”

Taz smiled that sad smile and said, “Okay.” He sat back down and started thinking again about how he was going to kill that nigga, Cliff.

“Taz, tell me some more about what happened to you and the crew after you hooked up with Won.”

“You really want to know it all, huh?”

“Yep.”

“All right. After meeting Won, he took me out to L.A., where he gave me what he likes to call my complete makeover. He taught me a lot of things about the game, and how wrong I was playin' it.”

“Like what?”

“Everything. But the most important lesson to me was to make sure that I never shit in my own backyard.”

Sacha smiled and asked, “Meaning?”

“Meaning, never do dirt in the city you live in. That has been a rule that I've sworn never to break. That's why I told you that you would never have to worry about any of my actions puttin' you in any jeopardy. Other than that, everything else was basic common sense really. He told me that I should get healthy and maintain a strict habit of exercising. In order to be thorough, he wanted me and the crew to be trained properly.”

“Trained? Trained for what?”

“In order for us to be effective in what we do, we had to be able to be as fluid as possible. By it being six of us, we had to become accustomed with each other's moves, and be able to watch each other's backs so we would always be able to maintain our safety during missions. So, for one year after our meeting, me and the crew worked out seven days a week, and went to the shooting range daily to get familiar with various types of weapons. We went out to the country and practiced all types of simulated jack moves and stuff like that. Won told me to call him back when I felt that we were ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To get rich! I called him a year later and told him that we were in fact more than ready. After that, everything is pretty much history. I kept my word to Won, and in return he kept his word with me. He made each of us richer than we could have ever imagined. We stuck to the script he laid out for us, and everything fell into place just like he said it would. I owe that man my life, Li'l Mama. He's been like a father to me. But enough is enough. I want out. I'm ready to live my life with you and put all of this shit behind me now.”

Sacha smiled at that comment and said, “Have you told Won that you want to quit?”

“Yeah, and he told me that we're not finished yet. We're almost there, but not yet.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Taz?”

“Right now, Li'l Mama, all I'm worried about is my seed. Everything else has to hold up. Won's comin' out here tomorrow, so I guess we'll talk more about that shit then.”

“He can't make you keep doing something that you no longer want to do, Taz.”

“Don't worry about that, Li'l Mama. No man has ever made me do somethin' that I didn't want to do, and I ain't gonna let that shit start now.”

Before Sacha could respond, Tari came running into the waiting area with her face flushed a deep crimson. She stepped straight up to Taz and asked, “How is she?”

“I don't know. We've been waiting here for hours and no one has came and told us shit,” Taz said seriously.

“I'll be back in a minute,” Tari said as she stormed right back out of the waiting area without saying a word to anyone else in the room.

Taz smiled and said, “Tee is 'bout to go the fuck off!”

Keno smiled and said, “I bet she finds out somethin' for us.”

“They done fucked up! That white girl is 'bout to go on the warpath for real!” Red said from the other side of the room.

“Red! Watch your mouth boy!” yelled Mama-Mama.

“Sorry, Mama-Mama,” Red said sheepishly.

Everyone laughed, and for a minute the tension inside of the room seemed to have eased up a little . . . just a little.

Ten minutes after Tari had left the waiting area, she came back with a smile on her face. That smile made Taz's heart rate increase dramatically as he stood and stared at her. He was so nervous that he could barely speak as he whispered, “How is she, Tee?”

“She's all right, Taz. She's all right. The doctor is on his way here now so he can tell you exactly what's been going on. But he did confirm for me that she is okay, and that she should make a full recovery.”

Mama-Mama clapped her hands together loudly and screamed, “Thank you, Jesus! I Thank You, Lord! I knew You would keep Your gracious hands on my grandbaby! I knew it!”

Taz was feeling so numb that all he could do was stand there and smile. Tari put her arms around him, and they shared a tight hug. “My God! What the hell happened, Taz?” she whispered into Taz's ear.

Taz pulled himself from her embrace and said, “Later. I'll explain everything later on. Right now, I need to see my baby girl.”

A doctor came into the waiting area, stepped toward Mama-Mama and said, “Hello, ma'am. Are you a relative of Tazneema Good?”

“Yes, yes, I am. She's my granddaughter. And this young man right here is her father,” Mama-Mama said as she pointed toward Taz.

Taz shook the doctor's hand and asked, “Can I see my baby, sir?”

The doctor shook his head no and said, “I'm sorry, Mr. Good, but not tonight. Tazneema is going to be just fine, but she's been heavily sedated and she won't come out of it until early in the morning. We had to remove the bullet out of her back because it traveled much faster than we had originally anticipated. She's going to have a nasty scar, but she'll definitely make a one hundred percent recovery. I suggest that you all go on home and get some much-needed rest. Come back bright and early, and I'm positive Tazneema will be in a much better state than she is now.”

“Thank you, doctor! Thank you so very much!” Taz said, relieved. He then turned toward everyone inside of the waiting area and said, “Come on, y'all. Let's bounce. You heard the man. My baby girl is gon' be all right!”

“I know that's right, my nigga! Let's get to the crib so we can kill some of that liquor of yours. I don't know about y'all, but my ass needs a drink!” yelled Bo-Pete.

Mama-Mama grabbed her purse from her seat and said, “I'm spending the night at your house, Taz. I want to be here with you bright and early in the morning.”

“Okay, Mama-Mama. Anything you say.”

“Shoot! I think I'll have me a strong dose of whatever y'all gon' be drinkin' too!”

Everyone started laughing as they filed out of the waiting area. Everything was going to be all right, or was it?

Clifford parked his CLS 500 Mercedes in the parking lot of the Oklahoma City Police Department and turned off the ignition. He couldn't believe what he had done. He shot the woman he was in love with. Even though it wasn't intentional, he knew it was still his fault for trying to shoot Taz. “God, help me!” he said aloud as he stepped out of his car and walked inside of the police station. He went to the front desk and asked a police officer, “Who do I speak with about a shooting?”

A small overweight police officer asked him, “Where did this shooting take place, sir?”

“Out in Spencer.”

“And how long ago did this happen?”

“About thirty minutes ago.”

“Do you know the person who did the shooting, and was anyone shot?”

“Yes, on both accounts. My girlfriend, Tazneema Good, was shot, and I am the person who shot her,” Clifford said somberly.

“Would you please have a seat, sir, while I get a detective for you to speak with.”

Clifford gave the officer a nod of his head and went and sat down in one of the chairs in the hallway. While he was waiting for a detective, his mind was steady racing.
Was Tazneema all right? And if she was, was their child going to be able to survive this type of trauma?
These were the questions running through his mind as he patiently waited for the detective.
Please, God, let her be all right! I don't care what happens to me, just let 'Neema and our baby be all right!
he prayed silently.

After a few minutes, a slim brown-skinned detective came from behind the closed doors, walked directly up to Clifford and said, “Hello, sir, my name is Detective Bean. Would you step this way, please?”

Clifford stood and followed the detective to an office. Once they were inside the office, Detective Bean motioned for Clifford to have a seat while he went and sat down behind his desk. “Now, I've been told that you have some information about a shooting. Why don't you tell me about it.”

Clifford sighed heavily and said, “About forty-five minutes ago, I accidentally shot my girlfriend, Tazneema Good. I went over to her grandmother's home out in Spencer, so I could be introduced to who I once thought was my girlfriend's brother. But it turned out that the person I thought was her brother was actually her father. His name is Taz Good. Taz and I have a mutual dislike for one another.”

“Wait a minute. I thought you said that you went over there to meet him.”

“I did. You see, it's like this, we already knew one another. Taz got involved with a woman that I was kind of involved with.” He sighed again and continued. “To make a long story short, the woman decided to leave me alone and mess with Taz. Ever since then, Taz and I had a slight beef with one another. Anyway, I met his daughter, and we became very close—so close in fact that she's pregnant with my child. She didn't know that I knew Taz, and she wanted us to meet each other. When I got to her grandmother's home and Taz saw who I was, he went ballistic. He started yelling at me and Tazneema, talking about how I didn't care about her, and how I was trying to get back at him for taking Sacha away from me. He was very irate and was not trying to hear anything either Tazneema or I had to say. He even went so far as to threaten me.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me that he would kill me before he let me be with Tazneema.”

“Okay. What happened next?”

“I took his threats literally and felt like my life was in danger. I pulled out my weapon. I pointed it at Taz and told him that I loved Tazneema. He smiled and tried his best to get me to shoot him.”

“What exactly did he say to you?”

“He told me to go ahead and shoot him 'cause, if I didn't, he was going to kill me.”

“And?”

“Tazneema yelled for me not to do it, but I was scared and I feared that Taz would in fact live up to the threats he was making. So, I pulled the trigger. Just as I did, Tazneema screamed and pushed her father out of the way. By doing so, she was hit instead of her father. I don't know where the bullet hit her, but I watched as she fell to the floor. Taz got off of the floor and grabbed her in his arms while I turned and ran outside to my car.”

“And then you came straight here to the station?”

“Yes, sir. I know that I've committed a crime, and I had no other choice but to come and turn myself in.”

Detective Bean nodded his head for a moment and said, “I respect that, sir. For the record, please give me your full name.”

“Clifford Nelson.”

“Place of employment?”

“I'm an attorney for the firm of Whitney & Johnson here in the city.”

“An attorney? Well, I guess my next question won't need to be answered. Since you're an attorney, is it safe to assume that you have no criminal record?”

“That's correct.”

“Since you've come and turned yourself in to the authorities, I'm going to try my best to make this situation as bearable as I can for you, Mr. Nelson.”

“Thank you, Detective.”

“Excuse me for a moment while I go speak with my captain. You can help yourself to some coffee if you'd like. It's not the best in the world, but it's strong and hot,” Detective Bean said as he pointed toward his coffee pot on a small table behind his desk.

“No, thank you. I don't drink coffee.”

“All right. I'll be back in a few,” said the detective as he came from behind his desk and left his office. While on his way toward his captain's office, Detective Bean stopped at another detective's desk and said, “Wally, have we received any calls from any hospitals concerning a shooting within the last hour or so?”

“Yeah, we got two. One of them was from Mercy, and the other one was from St. Anthony's. What's up?”

“Do me a favor and check and see if the victim at either of the hospitals is a female by the name of . . .” he pulled out his notes that he had taken while Clifford was telling his story, found Tazneema's name and continued, “A Tazneema Good. If it is, make sure that you get right back at me, okay?”

“Gotcha, Frank.”

Detective Bean then stepped briskly toward the captain's office and knocked on his door. After being told to come inside, he opened the door and entered his superior's office. He quickly told the captain what Clifford had told him, and asked, “So, what do you think? Should I book him now or what, sir?”

“Book him for what? We don't have any grounds to actually arrest him yet. Wait until you can confirm whether or not this Tazneema woman has actually been shot. Then we'll go from there,” said the captain.

“Gotcha, sir,” Bean said as he turned and left the captain's office.

As Bean was walking back to his office, the detective that he had asked to check on any shootings stopped him. “Looks like there is a Tazneema Good over at Mercy, Frank. Gunshot wound to her upper torso,” he said.

“Has anyone been sent over there yet?”

“She's still in surgery. The nurse I spoke with told me that they didn't know how long she'd be in the operating room.”

“Thanks, Wally,” Detective Bean said as he made an about face and went back toward the captain's office. He once again knocked on the captain's door, and was told to enter. Bean stuck his head inside of the door and said, “We have confirmation on Tazneema Good, sir. One gunshot wound to her upper torso.”

“How is she?

“She's still in surgery.”

“All right, read Mr. Nelson his rights and let him go.”

“Let him go?” Detective Bean asked, shocked.

“That's what I said. He's not a runner. He'll be okay.”

“Are you sure, Cap?”

“Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Let him know that after we get a statement from Ms. Good, he'll be hearing from us.”

“But what if she dies, sir?”

“Then he'll definitely be hearing from us. Give him the not-to-leave-town speech and let him go, Frank.”

“All right, sir.” Detective Bean closed the office door and went back to his own office. As soon as he stepped inside, he said, “I'm going to have to read you your Miranda Rights, Mr. Nelson.”

“So, I'm being arrested?” Clifford asked nervously.

“Not at the moment. We have confirmed that Tazneema Good has indeed been shot. She's currently in surgery over at Mercy Hospital.”

“Do you know how she's doing?”

“Not at the moment. After I've finished reading you your Miranda Rights, you'll be free to go. I have a complete statement from you, so once we interview Ms. Good you'll most likely be hearing from us.”

“I understand,” Clifford said somberly. He sat back in his seat and listened as the detective read him his Miranda Rights. After the detective was finished, Clifford asked him, “How much time do you think I'm facing, Detective?”

“Honestly, it all depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not Ms. Good lives or dies. If she lives, then you're looking at a shooting with intent charge. Since this is your first arrest, a judge may be lenient. You might come out of this with some probation and community service because of the unique circumstances of this situation—that is, if things went exactly the way you say they did. But if she dies, then it could mean a lot of time, Mr. Nelson.”

“I understand. But what I don't understand is, why are you all letting me go home now? I could run away if I chose to.”

Detective Bean smiled and said, “We don't think you're the running type, Mr. Nelson. After all, you did come and inform us of your crime. But, for the record, let me tell you that it would be in your best interest not to leave town,” Bean said sternly.

“I won't, Detective,” Clifford said as he got out of his seat.

“Go on home and try to take it easy. We'll contact you after we've had a chance to speak with Ms. Good.”

“Okay. Thank you, Detective,” Clifford said, and left the detective's office. As he walked out of the police station, he gave a sigh of relief. He was happy as hell to still be a free man.
If I was still the same man I used to be, I might not have come and turned myself in to the authorities
, he thought as he climbed inside of his car.
At least I'm not going to jail tonight,
he thought as he started his car and pulled out of the parking lot of the police station.