URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin (5 page)

“Jamal, you was always so smart. You play your whole life like it’s fucking chess.”

“Every move has to be calculated. I’m not trying to be caught out here over some dumb shit. I’ve done shit and learned from my mistakes. There ain’t no reason for me to still be fucking up.” He nodded his head. “But enough about that bullshit tell me about this work.”

Doug’s eyes lit up. He asked if he could sit on the couch and I nodded. I leaned against the wall on the opposite side.

“So, I heard about these cats that want to move on some product.”

“What type? Green or white.”

“Pure white. I heard that this shit is so clean that it’s damn near Columbian quality. I’m talking Pablo Escobar type shit. It’s none of that watered down shit that the streets is used to.”

“How good is the connect?”

“It’s my homie Terrell.”

“Have I met him?”

“Probably once in passing, but I don’t think I ever really introduced you two. You know that you don’t like coming out and partying with us, so I don’t think you really would have met him like that.”

“Shit, my lack of partying is fucking up my networking skills. All these new niggas and I can’t meet them because I don’t like to pop bottles every single night.”

“It is what it is.”

“So, tell me more. We got a connect back in Columbia. How many people on the team?”

“Here’s the thing, we coming in to take over.”

“The fuck you mean.”

“You know how the business is. Niggas talking too much and they get locked up so opportunities open up for other people.”

“Police really got this game fucked up. They seriously think that if you lock up some niggas that the game stops. The drug game is never gonna stop and that is a fact.”

Douglas nodded his head and looked around.

“You dead ass living like a King, son. I never understood why you never got a place in New York City. You over here all the fucking time, but you never get a place, why is that?”

“Because you never know who you bringing into your crib. You might be cool with someone but that girlfriend he brought over that one time might run to the police. Or maybe the nigga you think is like your brother is really like a fed. I don’t got time for none of that shit. I like laying up in here. It’s huge, it’s nice, and other motherfuckers cleanup after me. Plus I don’t have to worry about people running up the stairs and trying to get at me. A hotel room to me is a place to ease my worries; you can believe that.”

Douglas was young in the game. I may have known him for the last five years, but he has never been into the street life like I was. I was schooled to the game so young. I remember living back in Brooklyn New York, and watching people getting robbed outside my window. I would see the drug dealers riding around in fancy cars, flashing money, and having all the women. I wanted that. My mother was a single mother working as hard as she can to make up for the fact that my father left when he found out that she was pregnant. As soon as that pregnancy test turned positive, he turned ghost, but she did all right. She worked two jobs just to keep a roof over our heads. She was damn near killing herself and then one day came the blizzard.

A huge blizzard hit NYC about 20 years ago. There was about twelve inches of snow. My mom was excused from one job, but the other one wasn’t trying to hear it. I remember hearing her boss say, “I don’t care if you have to ski your ass over here, just get here.” She sighed and just pinched my cheeks. I was ten years old then but I could never forget her leaving and about ten minutes later hearing her howl in pain. I ran downstairs barely wearing clothes and saw that my mother slipped and fell in front of some abandoned house. She broke her arm and lost both of her jobs just like that.

None of her bosses had sympathy for her, not even the one that made her come out. They just said to let them know when she could be back. And when the doctor said that she needed surgery, that same boss was like, “Good luck” and they hung up. The look on my mother’s face of trying to figure out what we were going to do was so heartbreaking, but she never really let on on how bad it was. So after she got her surgery, I was the one that had to go to the supermarket and buy the groceries. It was around the third time going to the market when everything changed.

“Okay Jamal,” She handed me $40. “I need you to buy the things on this list. Don’t bother buying the name brand. Whatever is the cheapest, you get it. I need my change and I need you to bring the shopping cart with you.”

“Oh Ma, I don’t need the shopping cart.” I complained. “I can do this all myself. I can get the groceries by myself and be right back. I don’t want to have to drag a shopping cart with me.”

“This isn’t open for discussion. Besides, you’re going to be bringing back a lot of things and I don’t see how you’re going to be carrying it all. Some of these things are too heavy for you to not bring a shopping cart.” She explained. My mother was always looking out for me. “Just be careful out there and make sure no one sees that you have money. When you take out your money, make sure that nobody sees you. When you remove your money, make sure that you’re alone. When you get your change, put it right in your pocket. You might be a kid, but a thief won't hesitate to rob you.” I nodded my head to her instructions and went outside. “Be safe.” Was the last thing I heard her yell before the door swung close behind me.

I got to the supermarket and started shopping for everything on the list. I debated over the price of some items but then remembered my mother instructed me to get the cheapest things. As I filled up the cart, I realized that my mom was right. There is no way in the world that I would be able to bring this all home. I was glad to have a shopping cart. On the way to the checkout line, I saw a bag of candy. I always had a sweet tooth. I knew it wasn’t on the list, but it was just a dollar and it couldn't’ hurt. When the cashier rang me up, I was shocked to see that it was all $50.

‘Are you sure?” I asked her. She nodded her head and just looked around. I guess she was waiting for an adult to come over and pay. I took my time and was about to take some items off of the counter when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Hey young blood, how’s your mother doing?” I turned and saw one of the older drug dealers that lived on my block. Rumor was he came from Atlanta and just started selling drugs out of the building. He wasn’t like the other drug dealers. He had money, more money than a lot of them combined, but he wasn’t flashy. He kept to himself. He may have had an apartment in the building, but he didn’t live there. He lived on the house that was on the corner.

“My mother is fine.”

“I heard she broke her arm. That there is a hard working woman.”

“Yeah, she just got surgery.”

“It’s a damn shame that she fell in front of that abandoned building. Did she try suing the city?”

“I don’t think so. She just wants to get back to work.”

“I hear that.” He nodded stroking his facial hair. “Well you let her know that Lenny is sending her his best wishes.”

“Thank you sir, I’ll be sure to tell her that.”

He gave me a smile and I smirked at him, but I was still trying to figure out what to do about my shopping crisis.

“Do you have the $50?’ The cashier asked out of nowhere. I was about to tell her that I didn’t when I saw Lenny reach into his pockets and pay for the groceries.

“No, sir please.” I told him, but he just shook his head.

“Your mother helped me out once. I don't think she ever told you this, but one day that sister found me when I was really down and she could have just blew me off. But your mother saw my face and said that she’ll pray for me. I must have looked at her like she was crazy, but honestly, I didn’t know how good it felt that someone cared to pray for me. I never forgot that. I’ve always wanted to find a way to pay her back.”

The cashier bagged up everything and Lenny even helped me put it into my shopping cart.

“Come on little man, I’ll walk you home.” He said right by the entrance of the grocery store.

“No, that’s okay sir. I appreciate the offer though.” I started to walk away but he stopped me.

“Nah, I can’t do that. It’ll bother me if I didn’t.” He told me. His tall body towered over me and his cologne smelled like money. Everyone was looking at him with respect. Even the cashier had a smile on her face. I wanted to be him so bad that of course I let him walk me home.

When we got to my building, he helped me up the stairs and to the apartment. Before I took my keys out, I saw him turn to leave.

“Wait, Lenny.” I reached into my pocket and gave him the $40. “I don’t feel right for you paying for all of this stuff and walking me home. You should walk away with something.”

“Is that right, little man?”

“My mother taught me that time is money.” I tried to hand it to him. “And I appreciate your time.”

He chuckled a little bit and nodded his head.

“You are all right.” He smiled. “Your mother has raised you well. You’re well spoken, you have manners, and you are a young man with something to stand on. You stand on morals and ethics. I can’t say that for a lot of people around here.” He nodded. “You could have easily taken my money and walked away, but the fact you are trying to pay me back respectfully, says a lot about your character.” He put his arm on my shoulder and handed me the money. “I’m not going to forget this.” He patted my back and walked away.

I watched him fade away and then heard his footsteps going down the stairs. I went home and found my mom was asleep. I didn’t bother her with telling her what happened. I know my mom is so tired. Her arm was always in pain, but she just grimaced through it. I started to put the groceries away. When I got to the last bag, the one with my candy, I saw that it had a small stack of money. I didn’t understand, but then I remembered that Lenny had put in most of the bags. I peeked into my mom’s room to see if she was still asleep and she was still out, so I went looking for Lenny.

It didn’t take long for me to find him. His house was down the block and as I got closer to it, he was actually on his way out.

“Little man!” He greeted me and we exchanged hands. “What is going on? I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“I know sir, but I just wanted to let you know that you left some money in the bags.”

“I left that for you and your mother. I know money is going to be tight, so I thought it would help out a little bit.”

I don’t know why I started to tear up, but I did. I felt like such a charity case and I wasn't even trying. He just put his hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay Little man. We all go through our problems. Sometimes we don’t have enough money, but if someone wants to help you, don’t turn it down.”

“I don’t want to help.”

“Oh…” He started to complain.

“I want to work.’

He got real quiet then. he looked at me like i was nuts. I guess he wasn’t expecting this type of response from such a young kid.

“Go home little man.”

“I want to work.”

“Go home.” He told me again.

“I want to work and I want to work with you.”

“What do you know about this work?” He squinted at me. “What do you know about what I do?”

“I don’t know much, but I know a professional when I see one.”

He smiled at me. He then started busting out in laughter.

“You are really smart and observant. I be seeing you looking out the window every now and then, but I didn’t think that you were really paying attention.”

“You saw me?”

“I know every eye that is watching me.” His face got serious. “I make sure I do. I am not ready to lose and the only way to make sure of that is to pay attention to who is watching me.” His face got calm again. “But I don’t know about letting a little man like you around the business.”

“I just need to make money.”

“I’ll break you off every week.’

“I rather earn it sir.”

He nodded his head and shook my hand.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not really comfortable with this, but the way you make your moves, I respect that. I respect that you won’t take a handout. Now if I start you out with this work, it’s going to be small but the pay is going to be good.”

“Thank you.” I nodded.

“So, what you going to do with that money” He gave me a smirk. “You’re going to buy more candy.”

“No sir, I’m going to walk to the rental office and put it down on the rent.”

“Aw man.” He laughed. “I’m going to walk with you.”

That was such a long time ago. When we got to the rental office, Lenny paid for six months of rent. The small job he started me on was just to tell people to pick up a package. I would just pick up the payphone, call a random number, and just tell them the words pick up. He would give me more and more responsibility. He taught me the drug business from the ground up. I started doing more and more and the next thing I know, I was close to the top.

One day he pulled me to the side.

“Little man. It’s been a good six years.” He broke me off with some bread.

“What’s this for?” I counted it and saw it was well over $10,000. I’ve gotten so used to large amounts of money, that it was getting easier and easier to count stacks. “We about to go make a purchase.”

“Nah, business is going to have to come to a stop...at least for me.”

“What?” My eyes damn near bulged out of my head. “We making more money than ever.”

“And as good as that is, that’s also a problem. I feel like I’m about to be caged in.”

“You about to be locked up?” I asked. “What makes you think that?”

“Things around me moving funny. I think we have a rat amongst us. I can’t figure out who it is, but I know we do. Every time I leave the house, there’s always this van for a pizza business not too far from where I’m at. Or I will see the same two guys in a car just watching me.”

“You sound paranoid.”

Just then a van with a pizza logo drove by. He gave me a look that said he wasn’t playing. He nodded a bit towards their way. We watched the van with our eyes and casually looked over. The van turned around the corner.

“You see what I’m talking about? It’s always the same fucking van.”