Private Deceptions (8 page)

I left a message on Mrs. Childers voice mail, telling her to meet me at
Jimmy’s
on Fordham Road, "Now!" I drove straight there and waited. She arrived two hours and forty-three minutes later. I’d had dinner, barbecue ribs with onion marmalade, autumn salad with raspberry vinaigrette and read over the transcript of lunch at
Aureole
, with the Childers and the Hispanic couple, while I waited. The food was good, so the wait, although long, wasn’t too bad. Mrs. Childers arrived dressed impeccably, as usual. Her makeup was flawless, but in good taste. Her eyes were ablaze as she came toward me. Each step she took was taken to send a message. She was mad at me.

"So what’s with this
now
business?"

"You want to start telling me the truth
now
, Mrs. Childers?"

"This again." She gave me attitude and I loved it. "Look, I already told you, I don’t know anything else to tell you. My brother is missing. I want you to find him. That’s it."

"Good night, Mrs. Childers." I got up from the bar.

"Where are you going?" She touched my hand. The helpless Mrs. Childers had returned. I continued the game.

"I’ll have a courier deliver a check for the refund of your retainer." I even started to walk off. She held my hand tighter.

"Please don’t go. Sit down, please."

I sat down, trying my best to act like I was reluctant. "Now, you have to start telling me everything you know. Now."

"Nick, I have told you everything I know."

"Okay, lets start with what was your brothers involvement with your husband?"

"I don’t know. Neither of them would tell me anything about what they were doin’."

"What was your brother involved in?"

"This is stupid, Nick. How many times can I say this? I just don’t fuckin’ know any thing. Jake never told me anything about what the fuck he was doin’. Do you understand me now?"

"This picture was taken at the same party as the picture you gave me. I got it out of your brothers safe." I took out the picture and handed them to her. "Who are they?"

"This one is Pamela Hendricks. And that looks like LaShawn. I don’t know what her last name is. She came to the party with Pamela."

"Does your brother know them?"

"I don’t keep up with all of Jake’s friends."

"Does your brother know them?"

"He might have met Pamela at some party. And LaShawn runs with Rocky, so he probably knows her too."

"What were they doin’ at the party, Mrs. Childers? Who invited them?"

"I did."

"Who are they? How do you know them?"

"I’ve known Pamela for years. She was my supervisor at the bank when I was in Kansas City."

"What does she do, fly in for parties?"

"No, Pamela got a job at Manhattan Bank as an Area Manager and she moved here years ago."

"Banker, huh. She have any involvement with your husband?"

"Not that I know of. She knows him, naturally. But I don’t involve myself at all with Chilly’s business. So even if she did have some business with Chilly, I wouldn’t know it."

I was starting to believe her. She really didn’t know anything or she was giving me an academy award winning performance. Either way, it didn’t change anything.

"What’s does any if this have to do with Pamela?"

"She’s dead." I dropped the morgue pictures in front of her for impact. I picked them up along with mine. I figured Kirk must have wanted me to have them since he left them sitting there.

"My God."

"The police think she died of a cocaine overdose."

"The police."

"Yes, the police, Mrs. Childers."

"What do the police know about Jake?"

"They know he’s missing."

"So they’re looking for him?"

"In connection with these overdose’s. Pamela had Jake’s card on her when the police found her body. LaShawn, whoever she is, died about the same time Jake is supposed to have disappeared."

"And you think that has something to do with Jake disappearing?"

"I don’t know, Mrs. Childers, I was hoping you would tell me."

"I don’t know." She looked away.

"Well tell me something you do know."

Mrs. Childers looked back at me and smiled playfully. "I know how you know so much," she said, as if nothing that I was sayin’ had any importance.

"Excuse me."

"I know some people too, Nick."

"And what are they telling you?"

"That you used to roll with Mike Black. Not only that, y’all came up together. Lived on the same block. They tell me that you were his enforcer. You were good at it too."

"Oh really."

"Yes, really. André’s muscle. Let me see." She was having fun with this. Too much fun. But at least she had a playful side. She always seemed so distant. Like there was always something else she was thinking about. But she was all smiles now. "It was you, Vicious Black, Bobby Ray, Jamaica and Freeze. You and Freeze used to work together." She laughed. "So you’re no stranger to how Chilly does his business. You used to work the same way. I heard you and Freeze were bad boys back in the day." She waved a chastising finger at me. But she was right; me and Freeze have done some shit for Black.

While André focused his attention on selling drugs, Black chose to make his money on gambling, prostitution, loan sharking, and number running. More so after Vickie OD’ed in his apartment. I remember one New Years Eve, Black closed all the gambling houses, in spite of the money he knew he’d make that night, and had a party for everybody that worked for him. Which was nice, or so we all thought. The party was held at one of the house that was run by Gary Banks. Like everybody else, Banks made a pledge to Black not to sell drugs, which to Black was rule number one.

The party was wild, with plenty of food, drink, and woman naturally. Everybody was having a good time, except Black and Bobby. They, for the most part, sat at a table in the back of the room and talked quietly amongst themselves. At one point in the evening, Black walked up to me at the bar and asked, "You havin’ a good time?"

"Yeah, man, shit, havin’ a ball," I said to a very serious looking Black. I then turned my attention back one of the women that worked at the house. I began to walk off and take her upstairs to one of the rooms, when Black grabbed me by the arm.

"Nick! Have fun, but you and Freeze don’t drink too much tonight, I got something important I want y’all to do later."

"No problem. Drinkin’ ain’t what I got in mind right now," I replied then went on to handle my business.

At midnight everybody got together in the main room to drink champagne and bring in the New Year. Black said a few words, and then he went and reclaimed his seat next to Bobby. About three in the morning, Wanda went around and said goodbye to everyone and Black walked her to her car. When he returned he looked at Bobby and nodded his head. Bobby got up and the two of them started goin’ around room to everybody and handed each one an envelope. After receiving it, each one quietly left the house. I called Freeze over, "Something’s about to happen," I said.

"What you talkin’ ‘bout, Nick?"

"Check it. Everybody’s leavin’. Either Black or Bobby hands them an envelope, and then they leave."

"I know. Black just givin’ everybody a little somethin’, you know, breakin’ them off a little change."

"Oh, okay, cool," I said to Freeze, but I had a feelin’ that it was more than that. He waited until Wanda was gone, which meant he planned to do something that he wanted Wanda to have no part in. Black always has been very protective of Wanda and her involvement in the business. His waiting until she was gone only meant one thing.

After a while, almost everyone was gone. All of the women, which let
me
know the party was over, except Cynthia. Cynt is still the only woman that runs a house for Black. In fact, the only people left were the ones who ran houses and a few of the guy’s that ran numbers or did loan sharking.

Jamaica walked over to the band and sent them home. He said a few words to Bobby and left with them. Once Bobby locked the door, it was on. Black got up and walked to the front of the room. "I wanted to thank everybody for comin’ out and spending the New Year with us."

"We gonna get a bonus too, Black?" Banks yelled out.

Black looked annoyed by the question.

"Everybody is gonna get theirs, nigga, trust me," Bobby said.

"I’ve known everybody in this room for a long time," Black continued. "I even like most of you. I don’t know if y’all like me or not, and to be honest, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you trust me, and that I can trust you. That’s what makes us a family; trust, loyalty, and honor."

With that Bobby began walking around the room and continued to pass out envelopes. He stopped in front of me and Freeze and handed us our envelope. "You and Freeze go stand by Mike," Bobby whispered before moving on. We got up and walked over to where Black was standing. He motioned for us to sit down and he continued talking.

"In order for us to continue to earn a livin’, we have all chosen to live by certain rules. Rules that were put in place to insure that we can do that. Rules that each person in this room has sworn to me that they will uphold over everything else." Black started walking around the room. "Anybody who doesn’t follow these rules puts all of us in danger. I spent a lot of time thinking about this; tryin’ to give the betrayal of these rules a name. I even went to the library and did some research on the subject."

Even though everybody laughed, this really didn’t surprise anybody. Black going to the library, I mean. Although he basically stopped going to class when he was fifteen, Black read everything he could get his hands on.

"The word I came up with is treason. According to the American Heritage dictionary treason means, the betrayal of ones country, by aiding the enemy. It comes from the Latin word traditio, which means a handing over. But I prefer the Columbia Encyclopedia’s definition better. Treason is the legal term for various acts of disloyalty. English law originally distinguished high treason from petty treason. Petty treason was the murder of one’s lawful superior, or the murder of his master by an apprentice. High treason was a serious threat to the stability or continuity of the state. Shit like attempts to kill the king, or the queen, or to wage war against the kingdom. Especially cruel methods were used in executing traitors.

"Now to avoid the abuses of the English law, treason was specifically defined in the U.S. Constitution. Article 3 of the Constitution says that treason shall consist only in waging war against the United States or in giving aid and comfort to its enemies. And that conviction may be had only on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.

"The most treasonous activity in American history was the planned surrender of the fort at West Point to the British. It was to be carried out by a general, who I’m sure all of you have heard of, named Benedict Arnold. His plan was discovered when a British soldier was captured with a document detailing the surrender. I bet most of y’all didn’t know that," Black smiled. "I know I didn’t."

He was right, ’cause I sure didn’t know that shit either.

"Nick, you and Freeze get a bottle and pour everybody a drink," Black said. Once the glasses were filled, Black raised his glass. "By the way, several men were convicted of treason in connection with the Whiskey Rebellion," Black laughed and downed his drink. "But they were pardoned by George Washington."

Everybody laughed with him.

Now Black was standing right in front of Banks, and Bobby was standing behind him. "I like the British laws on treason better than the American. So, I consider selling drugs to be a serious threat to the stability or continuity of this organization. All of a sudden, Bobby grabbed Banks and held his arms. Black hit him in the face, once, twice, three times, four times. "Gary Banks," Black said and hit him again. "You’re being charged —" Black hit him again. "With treason!" and he hit Banks again.

Bobby let Banks go and he fell to the floor. "Pick him up and tie him to a chair," Bobby commanded as Black walked away. Freeze and I followed Bobby’s order and put Banks in a chair.

"Wait a minute, Black. I swear to you, I quit dealin’, man," Banks said in protest, as we tied him up.

Black simply said, "Freeze." And Freeze went to work on Banks. Freeze had learned his craft directly from Black; and Freeze was brutal. Betray, — Mike Black, — shit, Freeze lost his mind beatin’ Banks.

Bobby stepped up to me and handed me an eyedropper. "What’s this?"

"Acid," Bobby said quietly.

The beatin’ went on for a good five minutes while everyone in the room looked on. Some people started to leave, but Black stopped them. He wanted to be sure that everyone there saw what was happening. Banks was gonna die that night and Black wanted to be sure all of them knew why. Then Black said, "Freeze." And with that Freeze stopped.

"I swear, man, I quit dealin’," said a now bloody Banks.

"I knew you were gonna say that," Black said. "And I figured that it wouldn’t be fair if I were judge, jury and executioner." Bobby cleared his throat. "Okay, Bobby thought it wouldn’t be fair. So, you are being judged by your peers. Once you’re found guilty, Freeze and Nick will execute you."