Against the Grain (7 page)

9

Kay walked through BWI Airport in amazement. It was 1995, and it had been a long, long time since he had been around so many different people. And the women were a different kind of high altogether. Kay didn’t know which direction to go once he got off the plane so he followed the crowd, hoping that it would lead him outside. He had not told anyone that he was coming home; he planned to catch a cab into the city and surprise everyone.

Kay had always been taught to observe his surroundings, so when he got on the escalator behind a woman with a large straw hat, he wondered if this was the style now, but quickly pushed the question out of his mind and thought about the smiles that would be on his family’s faces. Kay stepped through the exit doors and into the bright sun. For a moment he just stared at all the different cars and people moving a hundred mph.

He walked in the direction of an empty yellow cab.

“Oh shit! What’s up, nigga?!” Kay turned to his left to see what the yelling was about and saw Tank running toward him with a big-ass smile on his face. Kay recognized his childhood friend immediately and welcomed him with open arms. The two men hugged for what seemed like ten minutes. They stepped back and looked at each other. “Yo, when did you get out, nigga?”

“Today.”

“Why didn’t you let someone know? We could have picked you up in style. Why you ain’t write or call a nigga? Damn, how long has it been since you got knocked? Seems like you been gone forever, nigga. Mufuckuz didn’t try to fuck you, did they? I know you ain’t go for that shit. Did you have to fuck a nigga up?” Kay couldn’t get a word in because Tank was asking so many questions. They were happy to see each other so they hugged each other again. Then Tank said, “C’mon man, I want to introduce you to somebody.” They walked over to Tank’s BMW. Kay noticed the woman with the big straw hat sitting in the passenger seat. Her window was down.

“Quchelle, this is my man Kay. Kay, this is my wifey, Quchelle.” She had a surprised look on her face.

“So this is the famous Kay that all you niggaz be talking ’bout? Baby, I thought ya’ll said he was locked up?”

“Yeah well, he’s out now and shit is going to be like it used to be. Now get your ass in the backseat so my man can ride up front.”

“Shiiit, nigga, you done bumped your head if you think I’m getting in the backseat.”

“What the fuck did I say!” Tank shouted.

“And what the fuck did I say?!”

Kay spoke up. “Yo, I can ride in the back. It ain’t nothing.” Both men got in. Quchelle rolled her eyes at Tank and smiled.

“That shit ain’t funny. I’ma get you when we get home,” Tank said.

“Nigga, you ain’t gonna do shit,” she said.

“Yo, Kay, I’m about to meet up with the fellaz. Do you want me to drop you off at your mom’s house?”

“Nah, man, let’s go see the crew.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Tank said as they pulled away from the curb into traffic.

Sitting a few cars away were FBI agents K. P. White and Yolanda Powell. While Agent White watched through his binoculars as Tank’s BMW pulled away into traffic, Agent Powell took pictures with a high-powered camera. When the BMW was out of sight, they looked at each other.

“I wonder who the new guy is,” White said to Powell.

“I don’t know. Let’s go back to the office and get this film developed and run a profile check on him. Whoever he is, I’m sure that if he knows these guys, someone knows something about him,” Agent Powell said as they pulled into traffic.

•         •         •

Thirty-five minutes later, they were back in the city. Tank’s car stopped in front of a nightclub called Odells. Tank looked at Kay. “C’mon,” he said. The three of them got out the car and headed for the entrance of the club. There were four huge men standing outside the club with walkie-talkies.

“Yo, Tank, what’s up with that?” Kay asked.

“Oh that’s just security, yo. We important niggaz ’round here now. Got to have somebody watching your back at all times. Looks like everyone is here. They’re going to be shocked to see you.” As they walked through the club and across the dance floor, the first one to notice Kay, besides the rest of the security, was Gee. He ran over to Kay with open arms and hugged him while picking him up and swinging him around at the same time. Gee asked a thousand questions of his old friend as Tank and his girl slipped off to the office upstairs. As Kay stood there talking to his friend, he heard a familiar voice, directly behind him.

“What’s up, Kay?”

Kay turned around. There was Dre with that ever-present expressionless face. Kay couldn’t tell if Dre was happy to see him or not, but when the two men embraced Kay knew without a shadow of doubt that his friend was happy see him. That was just Dre.

Upstairs in the office, Quchelle peeled off layers of clothes, trying to get to the fifteen kilos of cocaine she had taped to her body.

Mike looked at Tank. “How was the pickup?”

“Good. I picked up a little something for you on the way back.”

“What?” Mike asked with a smile on his face.

“It’s a surprise. I’ll show you as soon as this bitch hurries up,” Tank said, looking in Quchelle’s direction.

“Fuck you, muthafucka! Yo mama’s a bitch!” she retorted.

“Just hurry the fuck up.”

When she was finished, Mike put the drugs in two separate black bags. He then handed one bag apiece to two of his most reliable men. The two men disappeared quickly. Mike handed Quchelle $7,500; five hundred dollars for each kilo. She stuffed it down in her huge Coach bag.

“Okay, what’s the big surprise, nigga?” Mike asked.

“Follow me,” Tank told him.

When Mike saw Kay he was speechless. This was his best friend, whom he hadn’t seen in years, the best friend that went to prison for a bank robbery that they all committed, the best friend that took the rap and didn’t snitch on his friends and the best friend that he had missed very much. The two men embraced like brothers. Neither one said a word, they just held each other tight.

“If you niggaz knew how that shit looked, you would let go of each other,” Quchelle said. Everyone cracked up.

“What’s up, baby?” Mike asked.

“Nothing man. I just came home today. I haven’t even seen my family yet.”

“We’ll handle that in a minute. As you can see, niggaz is doing real good around here. You like the club?”

Kay nodded his head as he looked around.

“That’s good ’cause you’re part owner. In fact, half of everything I own, even my woman, is yours.” Everyone laughed again. “Yo, I love you, man.”

“I love you, too, man,” Kay said back.

“Now let’s go get something to eat and then go shopping so we can get you outta this bullshit,” Mike said with a smile, pointing at the old church clothes that the prison had given Kay to wear home.

“Tank, let security know we’re coming out,” Mike said. Everyone walked to the door. “Quchelle, do me a favor,” Mike said as he turned around in the doorway to face her.

“Anything, Mike.”

“Set up a welcome home party at the club for tonight. I want all the money getting niggaz and flyest hoes in town to be here, too. Big as your mouth is, I know you can handle that.”

“I got you, Mike,” she said.

“Let everyone know that everything is free tonight, courtesy of Kay,” Mike let it be known as security escorted everyone to their cars. Mike, Gee, and Dre all drove black Lexus coupes with eighteen-inch black deep-dish BBS rims. Tank was the only one that drove something different: a black 740 BMW with the same BBS rims. He handed his car keys to Quchelle and got in the car with Gee. Before closing the door Tank yelled out the window in his girl’s direction, “You better not be givin’ my pussy away. I’ll kill yo ass. Especially since I know niggaz that will pay top dollar for it.”

She didn’t even turn around. Instead, she gave him the middle finger and said, “This is my pussy, muthafucka,” as she strolled to the black BMW with a bounce in her step that demanded attention.

Tank looked over at Gee. “Yo, Gee, I love that bitch, man, I swear I do.”

“Ya’ll is meant for each other, nigga,” Gee said with a smile.

Once everyone was inside their cars, the security team took up the rear in a black-on-black Suburban with tinted windows. Mike led the convoy as he pulled into traffic. He looked over at Kay. “What do you want to eat, nigga?”

Kay thought for a minute, then he smiled. “I want some seafood.”

“Aiight, let’s go to the Harbor.”

“Before we go, Mike, I need to see my son and my family.”

“Let’s go do this then. I know where Sonia lives on Eutaw Place. We’ll swing by there first, then go around to see Mama Frost and them. I’ve got something to tell you later, too.” The two men gave each other some dap and talked all the way to Eutaw Place. When the convoy stopped in front of the building that Sonia lived in, the security team was on point. They all jumped out of the Suburban to secure the area. It looked like something out of a movie. Everyone in the neighborhood watched them. There was a group of young boys coming out of the building with bicycles and Kay noticed his son right away because he was the first one out the door. He was only nine years old but it was clear who the leader of this little group was.

Everyone started getting out of their cars right away. “Uncle Mike,” ‘C’ yelled as he ran over and started play fighting with Mike before walking around and giving everybody some dap, even security. They all knew and loved Lil ‘C’. Kay was pleased. He knew that his friends had looked out for his son while he was gone. He still hadn’t said a word. He was shocked by how big and handsome his son was now. You could clearly see both Kay’s and Sonia’s features in him. After Lil ‘C’ greeted all of the crew, he glanced at Kay real quick then back at Mike. Mike nodded as if he was giving Lil ‘C’ the okay. Lil ‘C’ walked over to Kay. “What’s up?”

“What’s up, little man,” Kay said with a smile.

“Are you my fahvuh?”

“Why did you ask me that?”

“ ’Cause you look like my fahvuh in the pictures at my grand-muhvuh’s house.” Just as Lil ‘C’ finished talking a woman yelled from the third-floor window. “ ‘C’, get up here and take out this gar—” She stopped mid-sentence when her eyes focused on Kay. Kay couldn’t believe that after all these years Sonia was still as beautiful as the day he met her.

“OH-MY-GOD, Kay, don’t move! I’ll be right down! Just give me one minute,” Sonia yelled down, before ducking back into the window.

Kay was still looking up at the window when Lil ‘C’ grabbed and hugged him around the waist. Kay knelt down to look into his son’s face then he kissed him. “Did you miss me, man?” ‘C’ nodded his head yeah and hugged his father’s neck. “I love you, ‘C’, and I’m never gonna leave you again,” Kay told his son. “Do you want to go with me?”

“Yeah!” ‘C’ said.

“C’mon then,” Kay told him, pointing to the open car door.

When Lil ‘C’ got in the backseat, he said, “Hold on, Dad. Yo, Poochie,” he yelled to one of his friends, “take my bike to my mom’s, aiight! I’ll see you later.” Kay got in and shut the door. Everybody loaded up and security got back in the Suburban. They drove away as Sonia came out of the building.

“Hold up, Kay! Hold up. I need to talk to you! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Kay,” Sonia yelled but it was no use. They were gone. She stood there for a few minutes with tears in her eyes. Her first love. The father of her only child was home from prison. She had done him wrong by turning her back on him when he needed her the most. She knew she had fucked up with him. All these years that he was gone, she looked for a man that was just like Kay, never finding one. All she got were empty promises and different men running in and out of her bed. None of them really loved her or tried to be a father figure to her son. And if every now and then one of them did love her, she would push him away for not being enough like Kay. Now after almost nine years, at the first sight of him, she melted on the inside. She still loved him. But she knew that she had violated him in the worst way. She had kept his son away from him. She knew that things would never be the same between them, but that would not stop her from at least trying.

Ten minutes later the convoy stopped on Kay’s family’s block. Everyone got out, and Kay looked around. Things had changed so much. ‘C’ ran inside the house.

Mike was making a phone call on his cell phone. “Yeah, everything is everything. I’ma need fifty of them things by tomorrow. Since you was still waiting on your thing to come through yesterday, I sent up top to Manny and got a little something. But all of that is getting vialed up as we speak. That’s for my different blocks. I got my weight custies on hold. Have someone check on shorty at the hotel in South Beach. She’s been there since this morning. She’s got a baby with her. Yeah it’s the same girl from last time.” Mike told whomever he was talking to to hold on. He put one hand over the phone and told Kay, “Yo, go holla at your family. I know that they miss you. We’ll wait out here for you. Hurry up, nigga, I’m hungry as shit.” Then he gave Kay a pound and smiled. By the time Kay got to the door, Mama Frost was snatching it open with a look of excitement on her face. She saw her oldest child—a free man again. They hugged each other, then she kissed him. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

“Boy, why didn’t you tell us you were coming home?”

“I wanted to surprise my favorite lady, that’s why.”

“Well get yo tail in here so that I can look at you. Are you hungry? I’ll fix you something to eat.”

“Nah, I’m aiight, Mama.” Kay looked around. “I see you’ve changed it around in here, Mama.”

“Yeah, Mike helps me out whenever I need something.”

“Where is everybody?” Kay asked.

“Lyniece is at work. She owns her own shop now. She’s got three of them. Tramaine lives around the corner with his girlfriend and their little girl. She’s beautiful, too. Looks just like me,” Mama said with a little grin. “The only one that stays here with me is Caleek with his lazy ass. That reminds me, I’ve got to fix up your old room for you.”

“Where’s Caleek now, Mama?”

“That chile is upstairs asleep. He works at Mike’s club. He DJs all night then comes here and sleeps all day. He’s up there in Lyniece’s old room with the AC on. Wake his ass up anyway,” Mama said to Kay’s back.