Harlem Girl Lost (29 page)

Silver looked back at her. “I would die for you too, hoe.” They couldn't help but hug as the cars in back of them honked their horns for them to move.

The first person
on their list to visit was Diego. They went to see him at his job at the airport. Silver drove around slowly until Missy spotted Diego tagging some luggage.

Silver was amazed at how different he looked. He was now much taller, slender, and way more handsome.

“Damn! Milk must have done him some good,” Silver said.

Missy sent her an impish grin. “Watch this.” She exited the vehicle. Diego's back was toward her, but she began to speak with a British accent.

“Oh, boy, can you kindly get my bags from my car?”

Attending to other bags, he replied without looking over his shoulder. “Yes, ma'am, I'll be there in a second.”

Stomping her feet, Missy yelled, “Boy, look at me when I'm talking to you. Now get my bags right now!”

Diego stiffened and spun around. “Listen, lady, I told you
I'll be with you in a second, and don't be calling me—” He recognized Missy, smiling from ear to ear, and he grinned as well. “Missy, why you got to be fucking around like that?”

Missy laughed. “Ah, I got your ass!”

Diego loved a good joke as much as the next person. “Okay, you got that one, but what you doing here?”

Missy smiled. “I brought somebody here to see you.”

Apparently expecting another joke, he smirked. “Who?”

On cue, Silver exited the car. “What's up, Diego? Long time no see.”

He searched her face, looked at her eyes, and froze. “Oh shit! Silver, is that you?” He hugged her and swept her off her feet. He gave her a big kiss on the cheek, and then pulled away to look at her.
“Conyo … Marni!
Look at you! What have you been up to?”

Before Silver could answer, Diego's supervisor appeared. “Diego, bags ain't gonna get tagged by themselves. Come on now, chop chop!”

Silver broke up the brief reunion. “Listen, Diego, I need to see you about something really important.” She handed him a card. “I'm staying at Missy's place, and I need you to be there Saturday at eight o'clock on the dot, okay?”

He looked at the address and shook his head as if it was a no-brainer. “I don't need no address. I know exactly where Missy lives.” He smiled at a blushing Missy.

“All right, but promise me you'll be there. It's real important, Diego.”

He agreed, hugged them both, and then went back to work as they climbed in the car and drove off.

In Harlem
, they drove to a bar called Crystal's and decided to wait and order some virgin piña coladas, since Missy no longer drank alcohol. They asked several patrons at the bar if they had seen Chubbs, but everyone acted as if they didn't know him. After waiting nearly two hours with no sign of Chubbs, they decided to leave and try again the next day. Before they left, they decided to use the ladies’ room because those three drinks were working on their bladders. As they walked toward the bathroom, a large man appeared from out of nowhere and pushed them inside the men's room. The man pulled out two large guns and pointed them directly in their faces.

“You two lil’ bitches better have a good goddamn reason to come up in here looking for me, ‘cause if not …” Chubbs cocked both triggers. “Now who sent y'all lil’ bitches? It was that Hollis motherfucker, right?”

Eyes closed and scared to death, Silver stammered, “God-daddy, it's me, Silver.”

Chubbs used his gun to turn her cheek toward him. “Open up your fuckin’ eyes!”

Silver opened her eyes, and Chubbs realized she was indeed his goddaughter, whom he hadn't seen in over eight years.

“Maafucker, ain't this about a bitch!”

His frown turned into a big smile as he hugged her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

“Well, I'll be goddamned,” he said, proudly looking her up and down.

“Goddaddy, can you put those guns away?”

He glanced at the guns. “Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get out this maafucka.”

Before they left the bathroom, he frowned and cocked a trigger again. “You still in college, right?”

“I just graduated.”

“You going to medical school, right?”

Silver nodded.

Chubbs uncocked the weapon. “You would have made ya momma proud, baby girl!” Exiting the bathroom, he yelled to everyone in the bar. “This here is my goddaughter, and she is a maafuckin’ doctor!”

A man standing by the bathroom door spoke to him. “So you not gonna be needing these, are you?”

He held up two large black plastic bags. Silver and Missy looked at each other, realizing just how close they had come to being killed.

Chubbs hadn't changed a bit; he looked exactly the same, Tootsie Pop and all. He and the girls sat down, and they explained everything that had gone down. He seemed to grow angrier each time Silver mentioned Hollis’ name. Without hesitation, he said that he was in, but told them they should just let him clap the nigger and that would be that. Silver told him that it was more complicated than that. Chubbs said that he and Hollis were due to square off sooner or later, and besides, Harlem wasn't big enough for them both. He agreed to meet at the address she gave him on Saturday. He walked them outside, where he hugged her and told her how much he missed her mother. Silver agreed with him and said goodbye.

The next day
, they went over to their old neighborhood to see Birdie. On the way, Silver finally confided to Missy the incident that had occurred between her and Tommy. Missy was so furious that Silver hadn't told her about the attempted rape that it took Silver twenty minutes to calm her down.

They pulled up to the curb near her old building, and the first person they saw was Mitts the dope fiend. They were both surprised that he was still alive. They got out of the car, waved, and said, “Hey, Mitts,” and attempted to give him a few dollars, but he refused. Walking away, Silver turned around and saw that he was still staring at them. For some reason, he gave her the heebie-jeebies.

As they neared Birdie's building, they saw him trudging up the block with groceries in his arms. They sneaked up right behind him.

“Auntie Birdie?” Silver said.

Birdie froze in his tracks, then slowly turned, dropping the groceries. He clasped his hands over his mouth and started crying. Feeling his pain, Silver extended her arms toward him as he approached her like a sad puppy lost in a storm.

“I'm so, so sorry, Silver … how can you ever forgive me? How can you ever forgive me?”

He kept saying it over and over again as they embraced. Silver found out later that Birdie had put Tommy out the very next day and begun walking the streets looking for her, but after several weeks he had given up. She assured him that she understood and had forgiven him long ago. They spent the night catching up on old times, and then Silver finally told him
why they needed his help. Even though he was afraid, he agreed to go along with everything.

The last person
on their list was Beasley It wasn't too hard to find him—all they had to do was look for his white van. As they approached the van, they could barely see inside because of the thick cloud of reefer smoke. Cupping her hand against the window, Missy banged hard on it. Suddenly, the window rolled down and a cloud of smoke rushed out, causing them both to choke.

Fanning her face, Missy coughed. “Yo, Beasley, this is Missy. What's up, man?”

He looked at her as if he hadn't a care in the world. “Wen you a sa mi sistre?”

Still coughing, Missy pointed to Silver. “Beasley, you remember Silver, right?”

He lazily turned toward Silver. “Oh yah, I remember Silva, she use ta protect me in school.”

“Yeah, that's right. It's time for you to return the favor. Are you down, nigger?”

He looked at both of them. “Anyting for you two, who save me punk ass when I came to dis country. Just ya tell me when ya need me!”

Silver handed him the address while holding her breath. “Saturday at eight o'clock. Be there, Beasley.” Beasley nodded and rolled up his window.

One by one
, they arrived at Missy's apartment. The first one to arrive was Diego, and the last one, of course, was Beasley.
Missy had to go downstairs to get him out of his van as he puffed on a last-minute blunt. With everyone there, Silver and Missy explained the situation and the risk involved. She gave them all time to think about it. Chubbs was the first to speak. He had tears in his eyes. “Fuck that shit, man. Ain't nothing to this shit but to do it.” He pulled out both his guns and continued, “Let's take these bitches to war, man!”

Birdie spoke next. “Silver, I did you wrong once, and I never forgave myself. Whatever you ask me to do, I'm ready!”

Silver smiled. “Thank you, Auntie.” Chubbs and Beasley looked at Birdie strangely when Silver called him “auntie,” while Beasley nodded in agreement.

They turned toward Diego. “So what do you say, Diego?” Missy asked. “Are you down or what?”

Diego, sat still and silent, his head bowed. After several moments, he raised his head, his lips curved in a knowing smile. “This guy, Hollis, he didn't happen to have rob my momma, did he?”

Silver and Missy were the only ones who got the joke, and they laughed. The rest of the evening was spent going over the plan and their prospective roles in it.

El Flaco was
the major drug overlord for Washington Heights. His cartel sold 80 percent of the cocaine on the eastern seaboard. He also happened to be Diego's uncle, his father's younger brother. Diego's father had been killed sixteen years ago, when he was the overlord. He had been murdered by a rival drug cartel. After his death, Flaco came to the United
States and picked up with a vengeance where his brother had left off, killing everyone even remotely affiliated with his brother's death, including their families.

Silver, Missy, and Diego arrived at 165th and Broadway early Saturday morning. Just about the only thing Diego knew about his uncle was that he owned most of the supermarkets throughout Washington Heights. As they exited the car, everyone stared at them as if they were strangers from another planet. As they began walking around, a peculiar thing happened. People began making the sign of the cross. The locals began to crowd them, and some even began falling to their knees and chanting in Spanish.

“Yo, Diego man,” Missy said nervously, “what the fuck is going on? What are they saying?”

Diego replied, just as shaken, “I don't know. They saying something like, ‘O mighty God, you brought him back to us,’ something about a resurrection.”

The crowd grew larger, and soon they were surrounded, halting traffic. Suddenly, three men pushed through the frenzied crowd to find out what the commotion was all about. Scared and unable to run, Missy, Silver, and Diego grabbed one another tightly to not get separated. When the men finally reached them, their eyes widened, and they fell to their knees directly in front of Diego and began kissing his feet.

Silver and Missy looked at Diego, not knowing what to say. The three men then rose to their feet and escorted them through the crowd and into a nearby supermarket. Taken to an office in the rear, they sat silently and impatiently, unsure what would happen next. Suddenly, a door swung open and an older
Spanish man entered. When he spotted Diego, he was visibly shaken. He slowly approached Diego.

“What is your mother's name?”

Diego frowned. “What?”

With a stern look, the man asked once again. “What is your mother's name?”

Diego looked at Silver, who nodded for him to answer. “María … María Asencio.”

Overwhelmed with tears, the man placed both hands on Diego's shoulders, kissed him on both cheeks, and then affectionately hugged him. “I am your father's brother, and you are my nephew!”

El Flaco summoned his employees to get something out of the next room, and when they returned, they carried a large, framed picture of a man who was the spitting image of Diego. It was his father.

El Flaco told them the entire story. Diego's father had been a legend in Washington Heights before he died. He'd taken care of the entire neighborhood and everybody loved him and called him “El Mayimbe,” which meant “the king” or “the best.” He was like a modern-day Robin Hood to the people in his neighborhood. This was why so many people had surrounded them outside, because they had thought it was some kind of miracle from God that El Mayimbe had come back to walk the earth.