Untitled (42 page)

  "Our people need a wake-up call, Mr. Jackson," said Mbutu. "I'm here to do that. Since I've been in jail, our membership has doubled. Doubled. Chapters are forming in all the major states and some overseas. Activism will make a comeback because of me."

  "So, you didn't have anything to lose when you murdered Douglas."

  "You know he won't answer that," said Rashad. "Look, Marshall, you're a bright young man, but these matters are far above your head. We are battling for the soul of a people, not for the freedom of one man."

  "If your client has information vital to my investigation, I want it right now," said Marshall.

  "I don't know what you mean," said Rashad.

  "He does," said Marshall. He looked directly into Mbutu's ravaged eyes. He wanted him to say it. He wanted Mbutu to say that he didn't fire the fatal shot, that someone else beat him to it. But Mbutu just looked away, unable to hold Marshall's glare.

  "What is he talking about?" asked Rashad

  "I want to go back to my cell," said Mbutu. He got up.

  "Tell me!" yelled Marshall.

  "Daishaya?" said Rashad. "What's going on?"

  Mbutu had not let Rashad in on the secret. He had probably decided that he couldn't trust him not to expose a real conspiracy, because a lawyer would be happier with an imagined one.

  Marshall at least had one answer to one of his two riddles now. Mbutu wanted to lose the case. He wanted to become an incarcerated martyr, a living testament to a new black activism.

  "What are you two talking about?" Rashad demanded.

  Marshall didn't answer. He left the conference room with Rashad yelling for an explanation.

T
he little drug house was doing a brisk business. Danny watched it from across the street. There were many things to hate in the city, but above all, Danny hated drug dealers. They were evil, he reasoned. Uncaring demons who murdered people over a lifetime.

  Vinny had been upset when he told her what he and Marshall were up to. She did not like her man going out into the world getting into danger. She wanted him to concentrate on getting reinstated to the force. But it was out of his hands now. His lawyer, Victor Connerly, was on the case, and was waiting for the police panel to make a decision.

  Danny noticed that there was not a lookout at the house. There was no guard outside, and no one in the windows. This was curious. Most houses had more than one lookout. But this was a small-time place. Half's rep on the street was that he was a nonviolent dealer, a man who was not a hardass.

  Danny went to the house and hit the back door hard and entered with both guns out in front. Several women were in the kitchen hard at work. They screamed and ran. Danny grabbed one of them, a girl with short dyed blond hair.

  "Where's Half?" asked Danny.

  "He's gone," said the girl.

  "He was hiding a man named Moses. Where is he?"

  "Moses?" said the woman. "Ain't nobody here by that name."

  Danny moved into the dining room then the living room, taking the girl with him. Nothing. Danny went upstairs and only found a couple putting on their clothes and a kid asleep on a toilet.

  Danny came back downstairs and found the place empty.

  "What the fuck is going on here?" asked Danny.

  "I ain't saying nothing to you. Go on and take me in," said the girl.

  "I'm not a cop. I just need to talk to the man."

  "Right. But you talkin' with guns."

  Danny released the girl. "What's your name?" he asked.

  "If you ain't no cop then fuck you." She started to walk toward the door. Danny cocked the 9mm.

  "Just because I'm not wearing a badge, don't mean you can dis me," said Danny. The girl stopped in her tracks. "I need to talk to Half."

  "Why?"

  "You don't wanna know. Let's just say he could be in danger."

  "Damn," said the girl. "I told that fool not to go after Delilah. He ain't got no idea what he doin'."

  "Right," said Danny, playing along. "Half had no call to go after her, now I gotta find him before he gets himself hurt."

  "Acey and them said Half sold them some bad shit, said Half would get her back when he replaced it. Half said no, so they snatched Delilah. They know she ain't right in the head, but they took her anyway."

  "Where can I find Acey and Delilah?" asked Danny.

  "They over on Arlington in a corner house with a red door. Half went over there with a gun."

  Danny ran out of the house. He didn't have time to get the whole story. Drug feuds always ended with someone dead. And if Half was killed, he'd never find Moses.

  Danny got to the house on Arlington. It was a nicelooking place with a flower garden in the front, and a freshly painted porch. This was no drug house. Someone here had a job and a purpose in life.

  Being as quiet as he could, Danny walked to the alley and sneaked up to the house. He took out a gun. This Acey person had probably taken Half's woman hostage to secure payment of their debt. This was why he hated dealers. They put such a small value on life.

  Danny peeked into a window. He saw one man holding a multiracial man who had to be Half. In a corner sat a little black girl who looked like she was in a trance. That had to be Delilah, thought Danny. The bastards had kidnapped a kid.

  One of them was a short fat guy with wild hair. The other was of medium build with a shiny bald head. The fat guy held Half and the other waved a gun. Danny had to act fast. This Half guy was in over his head.

  Danny was about to kick in the door, then stopped. He remembered that this was a respectable house, and there was a little girl in there who could be hurt. Just because the two punks inside were lowlifes didn't mean that the owner of the house was a bad person.

  He put away his guns and walked around to the front of the house. For once, he thought, his color might come in handy.

  Danny pushed the doorbell. He heard muted voices. A moment later, the tall, bald kid answered the door. His evil demeanor was gone. Now he was a nice, respectable kid. Probably the game he played on his mom each day.

  "Who is it?" the kid said from behind the door.

  "Gas man," said Danny. "Need to read the meter." Most gas meters were still inside the house in the older neighborhoods. All Danny needed was for the door to open.

  "Come back later," said the kid.

  "Well, take this card and fill it out."

  The kid opened the door. When it was slightly cracked, Danny slipped in the 9mm and shoved it into the stomach of the kid.

  "Don't make a sound," he said.

  Danny took the kid into the back room. His partner held a gun on Half. Delilah stood where she was before, in the corner, looking at the wall.

  "Looks like we got us a situation here," said Danny.

The fat guy jerked around, taking the gun off Half.

"Who the fuck are you?" asked the fat kid.

  "A friend of this man and that little girl. I came to get them, or I blow a hole in your boy here all over his nice mama's house."

  "He owe me!" said the bald kid. "Let me go, or my man Blow will cap his ass and the girl."

  "Yeah," said Blow, the fat kid. "Let Acey go, or I'll do it." He cocked the gun and placed it against Half's head.

  "See, this is how shit gets started," said Danny. "I guess we'll just stay here like this until your moms comes back. Most folks get off work about five, five-thirty. If she catches the bus, she'll be here by six-thirty. If she got a car, then she'll be here by six. Let's let her decide."

  "Okay, okay," said Acey. "Blow, let the man go."

  "Fuck that," said Blow. "You only out two hundred. I'm in for all my shit. How I'm gon' get it back?"

  "Look, nigga, you can't be splatterin' brains all over my mama's floor!" said Acey.

  "Well, I told you not to bring them here. Can't nobody do nothing in this house. Can't touch nothing, dumb-ass plastic all over the furniture and shit."

  "Just 'cause I don't live in garbage like your family."

  "You too damned old to be livin' with yo' mama anyway," said Blow. "That's the problem. You need to grow the fuck up."

  Danny was at a loss as to what to do. The two friends were obviously not hard-core dealers, but they were stupid, which could make them even more dangerous.

  Suddenly, Delilah moved. She started walking away from the corner and out the kitchen door into the dining room. Danny supposed that the arguing reminded her of bad times.

  "Hey, little girl, get yo' ass back here," said Blow.

  Blow moved the gun away from Half's head and swung it in the direction of Delilah. Danny pushed Acey between Delilah and the gun. Half grabbed at Blow, and the gun went off. Acey was hit in the arm. He fell to the floor. Half grabbed Blow and started hitting him in the face. Blow dropped the gun. Acey screamed as he fell. Danny quickly grabbed the loose weapon.

  "Shit, shit. My mama's floor!" Acey grabbed at his wound. Blow threw Half off of him and started to punch, but Danny trained his gun on the fat kid.

  "Chill out, big boy," said Danny. "Mr. Half, take the girl and go outside."

  Half left the room, scooped up the girl, and went out the door.

  "I'm taking this gun with me. If anything happens to that man or that girl, the police will get it with a note saying where to find you two. God knows how many murders and robberies are on this bad boy."

  "You shot me, you fat-ass muthafucka," yelled Acey from the floor.

  "Stop crying, you little bitch," said Blow.

  Acey kicked at Blow, who jumped back out of his way.

  "I'm leaving now," said Danny. "Just remember what I said." To Acey, he said: "And if I was you, I'd get a mop. Moms will be home soon."

  Danny left the house and couldn't help but laugh a little. He met Half on the street. Danny walked down the street and Half followed, carrying the little girl.

  "Thanks," said Half.

  "No problem," said Danny.

  "What's your name?"

  "I'm Danny. Moses sent me." He was conning the man and hoped that it worked.

  "Aw, shit," said Half. "I love that nigga."

  "Me too. Where is he? He ain't at your place anymore."

  "You helping him with this thing?"

  "Yes, we're in business. So, where is he staying?"

  He took a second as realization took over his face. Half backed away from Danny. "Ain't no white boy in Moses' crew. Look I don't know nothing." Half held the girl away from Danny protectively.

  "Okay," said Danny. "Look, I'm not a cop," said Danny. He realized that he was saying that a lot lately, and it didn't feel like just a technical admission anymore. He suddenly felt a pang of regret. "But I need to find the man. A lot of people's lives may depend on it."

"I don't know where he is," said Half.

  "I just saved your ass and this kid's," said Danny. "I even got you some protection against them. You owe me."

  "I can't drop on my man. I can't."

  Being a rat was one of those laws that seemed to survive every generation of criminals. In today's modern age, no one had any scruples. Everyone cheated, but the damned drug dealers had to be the ones with principle.

  "Okay," said Danny. "That's cool. Maybe I'll just go back and tell your friends that I'm not going to protect you if they come lookin' for you again."

  Half looked at Delilah. The little girl stared off into space. Danny noticed that her eyes were beautiful, light brown orbs. But they had no life in them, just the emptiness of loss.

  "Don't tell him I told you," said Half. "He went to see some girl he used to kick it with."

  "What's her name?" said Danny.

  "Nessa something."

  "Whereabouts do she stay?"

  "I think he went over by Dequindre or something. She live with her mama. That's all I know."

  "That's enough," said Danny. The neighborhoods were basically filled with extended family. You could find anyone with a name and a geographic location. Danny was about to leave, but he had just one more thing on his mind. "That your kid?" he asked Half.

  "Yeah."

  "Did her mama use? Is that why she's this way?"

  "Yeah, her mama died. I got her now."

  "Maybe if you quit selling death for a minute and get some help, she could have a chance in life."

  Half looked at Danny with shock and anger in his face. In the life, many dealers didn't ever think of themselves as having the basic power for humanity. It was a constant exercise in making money and waking up alive each day.

  Half didn't respond to Danny's statement. He put Delilah down and walked off down the street with her.

  Danny walked toward his car. He felt good, despite the gnawing belief that his law enforcement career was over. He was happy to be back in the neighborhoods, and he'd helped this man and his daughter out of what was surely a lifethreatening jam.

  Now he would find Moses' woman, and hopefully she would lead him to that bastard. He thought about his promise to Marshall to use restraint when dealing with Moses. He hoped that he could keep that vow.

M
oses watched Dake and Nita's warehouse from two streets over. There were vacant lots on both streets, so he had a partially obstructed view of the place. It was early morning, and the sun had just come up. The air was chilly and a light frost had fallen. Most people were still asleep, but not thieves. They were just getting in from a long night's work.

  A light truck and a moving van went inside the warehouse. They were tan and blue, as nondescript as you could get. Standard stuff for a crew. The vehicles looked new.