More Money for Good (13 page)

We heard knocking on the door again. Not as loud or intense as a few hours earlier but it was more constant. I still sent the girls upstairs and took out my heat and gave Rossi one as well. It was a Beretta Nano 9 mm.

I stood directly in front of the door and Rossi toward the side in a hallway, fully locked and loaded. I wasn't totally ready for a shoot-out.
Shit.
Mentally maybe but physically nowhere close for a battle with crooked police. I balanced my weight as best as I could and tried to focus on defending my property. I was not going to let another police officer in my home to walk around like they owned the place. I was planning for what was about to happen next to be on Fox 5 news for sure.

I checked on Rossi's position. He gave me thumbs-up. I walked up to the door and looked out the peephole. Fuck me. It was Tavious and his all-star reporter. I opened the door. They took one step into my place and looked around.

“What the fuck happened in here?” Tavious was curious to know.

Saadia grabbed on to his arm extra tight, then stepped over my oak cabinet along with broken glass that now made its home on the floor instead of against my wall. “Funny, when I met you, Pete, I didn't think you liked it rough,” Saadia said.

Lauren and Rita peeked down from upstairs. I introduced Saadia to the ladies and Rossi. After we filled them in on what happened she rolled up her sleeves and began to pitch in and help out with the mess. Tavious wanted to speak with me and Rossi alone. We went outside to chat.

Tavious lit up a smoke first. “Damn night has been full of surprises hasn't it?” Tavious took a drag on his smoke. “Muthafuckas always working an angle. Being out here is no more different than being in the joint.”

We didn't quite understand where he was going with what he was saying. He was actually more like mumbling, so Rossi asked him what he was talking about after he bummed a smoke.

“Got-damn Ely,” he said.

“That's your mother's better half?” I asked.

“Check.” Tavious took another drag on his smoke. “He purchased a note I owed back in the day on a purchase of Kush. Something I was going to pay before I was busted but it never happened.”

“How much does he want?

“He wants it all. He wants it all, West.”

Tavious's news was a major blow. We sat and talked about it without delay. Rossi was in agreement. There was no way we could stand in the way of a man with a verified promissory note that had been stamped in the streets in his hand. I had only laid eyes on Ely one time in the parking lot of the police station. If he showed proof that he had an agreement with this Gully Brown and the two million was his then that alone put us all out of the equation for sure because I wasn't going there.

More than anything I was pissed that I had to get back to work extra hard and get my house back in order after the police wrecked it. Rossi didn't have too much time invested but he was willing to chalk the whole experience up as a possible deal that didn't materialize. At least we were all safe and no one was injured trying to get what we all thought there was a chance of obtaining.

I was still worried about Tavious though; we all were. I didn't know what Ely had up his sleeve particularly because Tavious didn't know where the money was. Tavious was going to have to be extra careful around him because Ely had total access to his life since he was married to his mother.

A few days later, Tavious was in his apartment with his mind churning on fire, realizing what he anticipated having in his hands for twenty long years had dissipated to the small sum of $200,000, and that was
only
if he was lucky enough to find out who was in possession of it.

Tavious had planned to spend the evening with Saadia but it was already seven o'clock and she hadn't called. The last time he spoke with her she was doing a half day of work then meeting with his mother for an afternoon lunch. It soothed his heart to know at least something was working out. At this time in his life a relationship would more than likely be the best thing for him.

Tavious decided it was time to give Saadia a call. As soon as he picked up his phone to dial her number his phone rang.

It was Ely. Tavious was not too happy to hear from him. “So what do you want?”

“My man. Why are you so hostile? We are not even close to being hostile. I mean we are practically family.”

Tavious could hear his chuckle, which sounded as though he thought he had Tavious by the balls. “Like I said, what do you want?”

“Well . . . I thought that you might want to know that your girl is over here with your mother.”

“I know that,” Tavious said.

“But I don't think you know they have been going at it for the last twenty or so minutes and I am not the one to break up two women arguing.”

“Arguing? About what?”

“Come find out for yourself,” Ely told him; then the phone went dead.

“West, I need you, man.”

That's exactly what Tavious relayed to me over the phone. I could feel by his tone he was rushing. My first thought was the police were on top of his ass again.

“I need a ride out to Henry County,” he pushed.

“Henry County?”

“Ely called. Said my mother and Saadia are out there in some type of tiff.”

I didn't respond.

“ Can you come get me and take me out there so I can see what's going on?”

I wasn't in the mood. I had just about gotten over all the time I had spent on the hunt for the two million with the help
of the
cognac that was staring back at me. Plus, I was still finding little pieces of broken glass on my floor.

“C'mon, now, West. I really appreciate all that you have done for me since I've been released and I know your house is busted up but . . .” There was a pause. “I just need to get out there and see what this is all about.”

It was against my better judgment but I had a corner more of cognac in my glass and took it straight down. “I'm on my way.”

 

As we ventured out to Henry County, Tavious promised to wash and wax my ride on the next picture-perfect day. He still couldn't get over the fact that Mrs. Bullock gave me his grandfather's prized car. I think Tavious asking to wash it was his chance to go back down memory lane a bit and think about old times, the days before he was locked up.

Except for a little bit of traffic on Interstate 285 we were able to make good time. Tavious estimated it was about thirty minutes or so since he last chatted with Ely and he was a bit worried because each time he called Saadia's or his mother's number the phones were not being answered.

When we arrived Tavious went ahead of me. I was lagging behind, taking cautious steps, checking out the spread and wondering why I was hearing so many dogs. Their barking was so loud I wondered if any were wandering loose. I damn sure heard what seemed to be thousands on the grounds.

Tavious glanced back at me. He was already standing at the front door.

“C'mon, man, it's cool. Those dogs are locked up,” he said.

“You sure?”

“Nah, but you better not be on the outside of this door if they're not. Just saying, 'cause I saw a few nasty sons of bitches the last time I was out here and they don't play.”

I didn't know if Tavious was serious but I was not taking any chances. For the first time in years I moved my legs with the quickness with a quick step up to the front door. I stood right beside Tavious, keeping my eye out for anything that approached me with four legs attached to its body.

Tavious knocked twice. We could faintly hear shouting, maybe an argument, but because of the dogs barking we weren't sure.

Tavious looked at me. “What you wanna do, West?”

“Hey, I'm here for you,” I let him know.

We were standing, looking at one another. It was his family, his girl, his decision.

Tavious said, “Fuck it.” Then he opened the door and we walked in.

We were just inside the door of the house with the open floor plan. It seemed to be an oversized ranch, perfect for living out in the country in all the sticks and trees. The house was cleaned to perfection, quite a contrast to mine since the police visit. It took only a few seconds to realize that the shouting voices we thought we had heard outside the door were a matter of fact. We didn't rush to the location of the shouting as we didn't know what to expect. But as we got closer we could almost figure it out through all the screaming and yelling.

“Let's just get one thing clear, you tell-it-all scribe! My son is not ready for a relationship with you—bitch! He's been locked up for twenty years so of course he thinks he likes you. Yes . . . everyone knows why he's so taken by you—you're a freakin' slut!”

“You can't tell me who I can or cannot see! I don't care if Tavious is your son, I'm going to be with him as long as he wants to be with me—so open this fuckin' door, bitch. I'm not telling you again!”

When we located the spot where the screaming was coming from Joyce was standing with her back on a wall, looking up at the ceiling
of the
house. It was obvious what was going on. When Joyce turned her head and saw us standing there she took a deep breath and nothing more.

“Ma?” Tavious was perplexed. She didn't answer. “Ma?”

She took another deep sigh.

“What's going on? Where is Saadia?”

“Tavious? Tavious, is that you?” Saadia said from behind a door. “Tavious, your crazy-ass mother has locked me up in this bathroom and won't let me out. I wanted to call you, but she has my phone and keys.”

“That's right—sure do and I'm going to keep them until you understand that I am not going to let you set my son up and take the fall for Amara's death. I know that's what this is all about anyway. Put two and two together. You do a story on her death and all of sudden you're sleeping with the unnamed police suspect.”

“Ma, what's wrong with you? You can't keep her in there,” Tavious testified.

“That's right, let me outta here,” we hear Saadia shout.

Tavious walked a few steps to the door. “C'mon, that's enough let her out. You two were supposed to have lunch, not get into it,” Tavious rationalized.

“I did try to hang out with her, but when I came in to use the bathroom before I left I heard the door lock behind me,” Saadia lets him know.

Joyce didn't say anything; she just looked back toward the sound of Saadia's voice.

I didn't know what to think of the situation. I was surprised, though, that a grown-ass woman locked another in a bathroom because she was sleeping with her son.

Tavious walked over to the door and grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door. It didn't open. He looked over at his mother. “You have a deadbolt on a bathroom door?”

“Crazy-ass bitch!” Saadia screamed out.

“Yes, Ely put the deadbolt on it. He uses it sometimes when his prime bitches are in heat and he gets concerned sometimes that someone will try to steal them and he keeps them in there. So I decided to use it for this bitch.”

Tavious took a deep breath after looking at me, shaking his head. He held out his hand in his mother's direction. “Keys please?”

“Don't have them,” she said.

“What do you mean you don't have them!” Saadia screamed.

Tavious pushed out his hand again, waiting for keys. “Ely has them. He's out back,” she said.

“How are you going to lock me in the bathroom without the keys?” Saadia said through the door.

Tavious looked at me as the ladies continued their back and forth.

“C'mon, West, let's go get these keys.”

“Those dogs back there?” I wanted to know.

Tavious had already started to walk down the hallway. “Yeah.”

“That's okay—I'm good,” I told him then I threw him my keys because he said he didn't want to walk back to the kennels in the dark.

Tavious was overly hesitant opening the door and walking into the kennel. He took about two steps inside before he called out Ely's name. No answer. He called again. No answer. Then he called out to him a third time. There was still no answer. Ely probably couldn't hear him because the dogs' volume inside was almost deafening with the cinderblock acoustics bouncing off the walls.

Tavious could see the office with the posters from where he stood and decided to walk back. As soon as he placed one foot inside the room he was greeted by a ferocious dog that stood at the ready in attacking position. Tavious was stunned. He couldn't take his eyes off the dog's gigantic head and reaching teeth as it barked nonstop. Its slobber foam around its mouth and growling were enough to make anyone concede. Ely was sitting behind his desk, tapping that damn pen on it, with a huge smile on his face.

“Don't look him in the eye,” Ely instructed over the commotion. “If you do, I don't know if I will be able to get him off you.”

The dog continued his discomfort with Tavious. Its stand was forceful and strong begging Tavious to make a move.

“Get the dog, man,” Tavious ordered. Tavious was looking across at the posters on the wall again.

“You got my money?” Ely inquired.

“I already told you, I don't have it and I don't know who does.”

Tavious could feel the dog inching closer to him in the small office just because he could and Ely was not giving it instructions not to.

“I'm telling you, man, get the dog,” Tavious said again with a nervous laugh.

Ely stands up and shouts, “Or what! What are you going to do?”

By now Tavious was furious and didn't say another word until Ely finished with his laughter of Tavious standing there defenseless with his dog letting out his aggression. Finally, after what seems like hours, Ely placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The dog stopped barking immediately and ran to his side. With a coy smile on his face Ely placed the leash on its choker chain around the dog's neck, then walked past Tavious out the door.

Tavious heard him place the dog behind a nearby gate while all along praising the dog for acting like the devil.

Ely returned like nothing happened but surely he could see the sweat on the crest of Tavious's brow.

“So, I guess you're here to get the key—right?”

“Right,” Tavious answered.