No Justice No Peace (7 page)

TELL ME IT’S JUST A DREAM

Chapter Five

Saturday, by noon, Al was right on time with my new set-the-fuck-out ass Cadillac.  It was black, had all the right trimmings, and had soft black leather interior.  Before he left, I told him to hook Quincy up with a little somethin-somethin as well.  He said he would and jetted. 

            Immediately following Al’s departure, I went straight to the malls and hooked myself up.  Wasn’t no need to ride like I was, and look like a bum. 

            By nearly days end, the trunk was filled and could barely close.  I had mega shit and had even picked up Desmon a few things.  Now, I know what I said to Ginger for doing the same, but a part of me knew after what happened yesterday, he would start to see things my way.  In addition to buying him something, I’d even stopped at the jewelry store and picked out a diamond necklace for Anna.   I wasn’t sure why, but I just felt like doing it.

            After my shopping spree, I stopped to get a cell phone because I needed one badly.  Ginger always had the line tied up, and if it wasn’t her, it was Desmon staying on it all night long. 

            Before going home, I stopped at the corner and hollered at a few fellas who stood nearby looking up to no good.  It was obvious what they were up to, and after I pulled over to the curb, they came up to the car.  I lowered the window and they looked into the car.

            “Yo, man, what’s up?” one of them said.

            “Any of you brothas know a Dominique?” They looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. I rose up and reached into my back pocket for my wallet.  I pulled out a hundred dollar bill and looked at them again. “Again…any of you brothas know Dominique?”  One reached for the money, and the other pulled his hand back.

            “Naw, bro, we don’t know no Dominique?”

            I nodded while tapping my finger on the steering wheel. “So, tell me…what’s it gonna cost me?”

            “Nothing.  I told you we don’t know nobody named Dominique?”

            “A thousand…two,” I said.  “All I want is for you fellas to tell him to call me, that’s all.”

            They looked at each other. “Fool, how you know we won’t just take yo money and run.  You don’t trust us to really tell him to call you, do you?”

            “If I give you one grand a piece, and Dominique doesn’t call me by the end of the day, you won’t even have time to spend the money.  Now, do we have a deal or not?  If not, I’ll go make my deal elsewhere.”

            They turned to each other again, obviously ready to talk like they had some sense. “You got a deal.  Give us yo number.”

            I unlocked the doors and they got in.  I watched in my rearview mirror as a police car was headed our way.  He rolled slowly by and nodded at us as he drove by.

            I wrote my name and number on a piece of paper, marking it as urgent.  I gave it to one of the brothas, along with the agreed upon two grand.  I reminded them that if they didn’t deliver, they wouldn’t live to see the next day.  They assured me Dominique would call. I jetted.

            Ginger was in the bedroom folding the laundry when I came in.  I hung my clothes in the closet and didn’t say anything to her.  When I went back outside to get more bags, she came to the door and watched me.  She looked at the car, and then returned to the bedroom.

            “What’s all this?” she said.

            “I needed a few things.  A friend of mine hooked me up.”

            “That’s good.  Is he gonna hook up a place for you to stay?”

            “Maybe, or maybe not.  But, is that your way of asking me to leave?”

            “Kiley, you know we can’t go on like this.  You’ve said some really hurtful things to me and I’m more than angry with you about what you did to my son.”

            “You’ve also said some hurtful things to me, too, and our son deserved what he got.  Just get over it.  I have.  Today is a new day, baby, ain’t no need to trip.”

            “Sorry, but it’s not that easy for me.  I would like for this to work out for all of us.  You need to stop pointing the finger at me, and take a look at yourself.  If you…”

            “Ginger!  It’s over, baby.  You don’t say nothing to me, and I won’t say nothing to you.  I got business here. And until my business is finished, I’m not leaving.”

            The phone rang and she reached for it.  She held it in her hand and looked at me. 

            “I think it’s Quincy.  Do you want me to accept his call?”

            “Please.”

            She accepted and handed the phone over to me.

            “What up, playa?” I said, and then sat on the edge of the bed.

            “I got good news, man.”

            I smiled, already knowing what he would say. “What the fuck is up? Tell me.”

            “Bradshaw said I am out of here!  I got one more week.  After that, this hellhole is history!”

            “Well, I’ll be damn.  Things are certainly starting to look up.”

            “You’re damn right they are.  I’m hyped!  Can’t wait until Friday.”

            “Me and Ginger will come pick you up.  I don’t want to come by myself ‘cause I don’t want no shit.”

            “Fool, you can send a dog to come pick me up.  I don’t care.  As long as yo ass is here no later than…let’s say…nine o’clock in the a.m., I’m good.”

            “Now, you know they gon fuck around.  They probably mad as hell, ain’t they?”

            “Haters!  All over the place.  And that muthafucka Joe, he can’t stand to look at me.  Him and me been at it all damn week.”

            “Don’t trip with him, Q.  Ignore that punk.  He just mad cause we out smarted that ass.  Whatever you do, avoid his ass until you get out of there.”

            “Oh, I am.  But, listen…my time is up.  I’ll see you Friday, and please, please, please don’t be late.  And do a brotha one last favor, au-ight?”

            “What’s that?”

            “Get me a nice quiet room, with a Jacuzzi, some champagne, herbs, and of course, some pussy.  Not just any pussy, but some good pussy.”

            I laughed. “What the hell you want me to do, sample it or something?  I’ll make arrangements to get you some, but I can’t promise you how good it’ll be.”

            “Then, do your best.  I know your best is always good enough.”

            “It always is, ain’t it?  Love ya, Bro.  See ya in a bit.”

            “Right back at ya. Deuces.”

            Quincy hung up and the biggest smile I hadn’t seen in a long time covered my face.  Ginger cleared her throat to get my attention, as she could see how thrilled I was.

            “Did you say something?” I asked.

            “I said, who are you to make plans for me on next Friday?”

            “Aw, baby, quit trippin’.  This is real important to me.  I just don’t want to go alone.”

            “Ain’t no big deal.  Just because I’m mad at you, it doesn’t mean I don’t still love you.”

            I gave the phone to her, as it started to ring.  It was one of her girlfriends, so I left out of the room not wanting to hear her yakking. 

            As I walked into the kitchen, Desmon sat at the kitchen table.  His head hung low and he talked to someone on his cell phone.  I opened the fridge and reached for the orange juice.  I turned the carton up to my lips, noticing Desmon looking at me.  My heart dropped and I spilt some orange juice on my shirt. I blinked my eyes at the sight of his face, turning my head to avoid him. It took a few minutes for me to gather my thoughts, but I turned around, listening to his conversation.

            His face was fucked up.  His right eye was fiery red and the other was swollen and closed.  The right side of his face was badly bruised and one side of his upper lip hung over his bottom lip.  It hurt me like hell to see what I’d done and I couldn’t come up with anything that justified that kind of beating. 

            I grabbed a bag of Doritos from the shelf and sat at a chair across the table from him.  He continued on with his conversation, and when he stood up to walk away, I interrupted him.

            “Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.

            He stared at me with a blank expression, but sat back down.  He ended his useless conversation. I was sure the person over the phone couldn’t understand a damn thing he said as he mumbled the entire time.  He put his baseball cap on backwards, opened his legs and placed his elbows on his knees.  Avoiding me, he looked down at the ground.

            “What?” he mumbled.

            “I…I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I did not intend to hurt you the way I did, but I can’t let you continue to do and say the things you do.  You know you be out of line.  I had a bad day yesterday and I snapped.”

            He rubbed his hands together and closed his eyes as I talked. 

            “Is there anything else?” he said.

            “Yes,” I hesitated and took a hard swallow. “I love you more than anything in this world.  You have no reason to believe that, but if you give me the opportunity, I’ll prove it to you.  Believe it or not, you’re why I have the desire to live.  Before I leave this earth, I am determined to make you a better man.  You’ve got to help me, though.  I can’t do it alone, Desmon.  And as much as I love my father, my brother, Quincy, Rufus, and myself, I don’t want you to end up like us.  It was rough…too rough, and in the end, we’ve all had a costly price to pay.”

            He continued to stare at the ground and there was silence.  I saw a few tears hit the floor in front of him.  He sniffed, “Is there anything else?” he mumbled, again.

I paused. “Didn’t you have a game today?”

He nodded.

“Did you go?” I asked.

            “Not like this. Coach told me to sit this one out.”

            “Maybe next week, then.”

            He shrugged. “Maybe so.”  He stood up, opened the door to the basement and went downstairs.

            It wasn’t the best conversation between us, but it was a start.  I couldn’t complain and was on a serious high after talking to Quincy and finally getting some where with my son. 

            Before it got too late, I drove to Wal-Mart and bought Ginger another entertainment center.  It was way better than the one she’d had, and as I was in the living room putting it together, my cell phone rang. I rushed to answer it.

            “Who is this?” he asked.

            “Who is this?” I replied back with attitude.

            “Fool, I heard you were lookin’ for me.  Is this Kiley?”

            “Yes.  Is this Dominique?”

            “State your business and stop wasting my time.”

            “It’s imperative that I meet with you.”

            “Yeah, well, take a number.  I’ll call you back when I got time.”

            “I suggest you make time.  Now, I got some important information for you.  Somebody I know is out to get you.  If you don’t want to know who it is, then pretend this call never happened.”

            “Man, there are plenty of niggas out to get me.  I fear no one.”

            “No doubt, but I ain’t talking about no niggas.  I’m talking about one of your female companions. Now, I’m not gon say shit else over the phone.  If you want to know more, I need to hear what day and time.”

            “Next Saturday.  I’ll call you Saturday and tell you where to meet me.”

            I didn’t say nothing else, just hung up.    

            The week dragged on.  Desmon didn’t say much to me, but he did ask about my car.  He even asked if he could drive it and after I told him no, he got an attitude and left.  I’d noticed he hadn’t been to school all week, but I assumed it was because of his face.  It had started to heal, but for a pretty boy, every mark had to be gone before he’d show his face to anybody. 

             I damn near had to drag Ginger out of bed on Friday.  It was almost nine o’clock and I promised Quincy I wouldn’t be late.  It wasn’t like he would be standing outside waiting because I knew they’d bullshit around with him, like they bullshitted around with me.

            Earlier in the week, I’d made arrangements for him liked he’d asked.  I had two badass gals all hooked up and waiting for him at a hotel with his champagne, herbs and a Jacuzzi.  As fine as the ladies were, I wanted to join them, but I didn’t want to take the excitement away from Quincy since I knew how anxious he would be.   

            In addition to that, Al hooked up another Cadillac for me.  This one was white, with soft white leather interior.  It was off the chain and I was sure Quincy would love it. 

            Ginger and me didn’t say much in the car.  I think she was still upset with me about Desmon, but after I laid it on the line for her, I didn’t think she’d want to hear my mouth again.