Wifey (9 page)

“But that’s gon’ hurt us since it’s the first of the month.”

“I know. But, we gotta do it.”

“What you think gon’ happen wit’ Nikki’s case anyway? Do you still think the Feds gon’ pick it up?”

“I don’t know. It’s kinda hard to say.”

“Well, just say they done already picked it up. At any time they can tap every one of her conversations right from the jail. That way they can find out who she’s running for. And believe it or not, that’s how a lot of niggas get jammed up. Running their fucking mouth over the phone. And I ain’t gon’ lie, that’s one of the reasons why I don’t accept her calls. I just feel like she might slip up and say something stupid. And then that’s when I’mma be a statistic,” Brian said, getting a little annoyed by the thought.

I, on the other hand, continued to lay back on the couch and eavesdrop. And after hearing Brian trying to diss my cousin by putting a lot of crazy shit in Ricky’s head, it really started to piss me the hell off. It took a lot out of me not to get up and go in the kitchen and straight flip out on the both of them. But I didn’t. Instead, I remained quiet just so I could get some more information out of them clowns.

Ricky and Brian continued talking for about another hour, trying to iron out all the details about their plan to shift their business venture. Now what I didn’t want to hear from their conversation was when Ricky stressed to Brian, “if any mo’ problems come up wit’ any of the spots, then that problem gots to be eliminated.”

Now the word “eliminate” could’ve meant anything. But I did know that when Ricky said eliminate, it meant to do something to somebody.

Now, I got the chills when he talked like that. Besides fucking around on me, knowing he was gonna do something to hurt somebody really bothered me. But, it did go along with the type of business he was in, which was why I tried to stay out of it as much as possible. Nikki was my only concern right now since those two clowns could have cared less.

Their main concern was how much money they could make and how many hoes they could fuck in the process.

*
**

After Brian left, I got up off the couch and headed to the bathroom. When I was coming out, Ricky was on his way back in the den, probably to finish getting his ass kicked playing that football game.

“You get enough sleep?” he asked me.

“No. Not really,” I told him and went in the opposite direction.

I did this to get away from him as quickly as possible. As bad as I wanted to go back in the den to lie down, this was not the time. So instead, I went on up to my bedroom, where I knew I could get me some space.

Going Against Da’ Grain

Everything seemed to be getting together since Nikki got into better spirits and Mr. Shapiro felt good about the outcome of the case. Until I got a call this morning on my cell phone. I recognized the number from my Caller ID, so I answered it.

“How you doing, Mr. Shapiro?” I asked after placing the phone up to my ear.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“En route to my shop. Why?”

“Because we need to talk.”

“Do you need me to come to your office?”

“Well, I’m not going there any time soon. But….” He tried to continue, but I cut him off.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just got a call from the U.S. Attorney’s office.”

“Okay. And?”

“Well, I spoke with one of the attorneys there by the name of Karen Miller. And she just informed me that she’s about to take over Nicole’s case.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means that after tomorrow, Nicole’s case will be certified as a federal case.”

“What!” I said in a way to let Mr. Shapiro know I was not happy about anything he had just told me. I knew right then and there shit was getting ready to get really ugly. Especially when Ricky got word about it. And since Brian put that crazy shit in his head about the Feds, I knew he was gonna want me to cut all ties with Nikki. But that wasn’t gonna happen. At least not while I was living and breathing.

“Is there something you can do about it?” I asked.

“No, there isn’t. Nine times out of ten, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office takes over a state case, then it’s usually because they have some very strong evidence.”

“So, what you think gon’ happen now?”

“I can’t say. But, I do know that the U.S. Attorney wants Nicole to talk.”

“Wait. You mean tell on who she was working for?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. And the reason why they want her to talk is because they know, without a shadow of a doubt, that those drugs she was carrying belong to somebody they’re probably investigating.”

“What’ll happen if she don’t tell ’em?”

“Well, if she’s convicted, she’ll face a minimum of ten years in a federal prison.”

“Ten years!” I shouted.

“Yes. I’m afraid that’s the statute of the federal sentencing guidelines.”

“Is there anyway she can beat this?”

“Right now, her chances are slim to none.”

“So, you telling me my cousin is gon’ do ten years in the Fed joint?”

“If she doesn’t cooperate, she will.”

Listening to Mr. Shapiro, I was beginning to believe everything was going downhill. I didn’t feel any sound of hope in his voice. The reality of,
the shit is about to hit the fan
, began to sit in my mind. The thought of Nicole’s case going federal gave me the chills. And to know the Feds wanted her to talk wasn’t gonna make a lot of people happy. But the sad part of all this was that I was gonna be put right in the middle of it.

“Does Nikki know about any of this?” I asked the attorney.

“No. But my secretary has scheduled an appointment for me to see her tomorrow.”

“Well, she’s supposed to call me later on tonight. So, I’mma tell her what’s going on.”

“Do you think that’ll be a good idea?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Well, let me ask you this.”

“Go ‘head.”

“How would you classify the people Nikki was working for?”

“What you mean?”

“What I mean is, are they dangerous people?”

“Why you asking me that?”

“Because I need to know who we’re dealing with.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” I said sarcastically.

“Do you know the people Nikki’s involved with?”

Before I answered Mr. Shapiro’s question, I took a deep breath because I didn’t know what to say. I figured that if I told him a lie, then it would probably hurt me somewhere down the line. And if I told him the truth, then that would probably hurt me, too.

Before I could make up mind, my cell phone started beeping. I told Mr. Shapiro to hold on and I took the phone away from my ear to see who was beeping in on the Caller ID. Come to find out, it was Ricky sending me a text message. It read: Call the barbershop. I got back on the phone with Mr. Shapiro and told him I had to call him back.

“Okay. Call me back by seven o’clock.”

“Alright,” I said and then I hung up.

***

Ricky rarely used his text message system with me, so I kinda figured something must’ve been wrong. Instead of calling him from my cell phone, I stopped off to this pay phone like a block up the road, since it was the first thing I saw.

Luckily I had some change in my car because normally I didn’t. After I stood there and listened to the phone ring about five times the owner, Trey, finally answered it.

He was probably on the other end talking to his baby mama because he usually didn’t let his phone ring too long before answering it.

“Ultimate Cutz!” he said.

“Hey, Trey,” I said.

“Who this’?” he asked, sounding all leery.

“It’s me, Kira. Is Ricky still up there?”

“Yeah, Ma. Hold on.”

Within two seconds Ricky was on the phone. “Yo, Kira,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“Where you at?”

“I’m by the mall. Why?”

“Which one?”

“Military Circle. Why?”

“‘Cause, I need you to come scoop me up.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Look, please don’t ask me any questions right now. Just hurry up and getcha ass down here to the barbershop.”

“A’ight,” I replied and sighed as I hung up the pay phone.

Once I was in my car and back on the road, I began to wonder what was going on and why Ricky wanted me to pick him up from the barbershop. My mind started racing about eighty miles a second. Then my heart started beating real fast. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ricky had already known about the Feds picking up Nikki’s case. Then it dawned on me—that’s probably what had him acting all crazy. As I began to pull up in front of the barbershop, Ricky made himself front and center and wasted no time by hopping in my car.

“Come on, let’s go,” he instructed.

“Where we going? And where is your car?” I snapped at him as I put my feet on the gas pedal.

“It’s in the shop getting a new paint job.”

“So, why you couldn’t call me and tell me all this instead of sending me a text message?”

“Because I need you to do something for me. And instead of telling you what it was over the phone, I preferred telling you in person.”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Well, first of all, I want you to take me and drop me off at the gambling spot. And then I need you to take this dough and put it in your safety deposit box.” Ricky continued his instructions as he pulled a very big manila envelope out of the inside of his jacket pocket.

“How much is in here?” I asked him after stuffing the envelope into my handbag.

“It’s twenty grand in there. So, make sho’ you put it up right after you drop me off.”

“I will. But why you want me to put your money in my safe deposit box? I mean, why you ain’t sticking it in one of the safes we got at the house?”

“Because, I’m getting ready to switch shit up! And from now on, once a week, I’mma give you some dough to put in the deposit box. And it’s not gon’ be for spending, either.”

“I ain’t gon’ mess wit’ your money.”

“Good! ‘Cause it’s gon’ be for the time when I can’t get to my other money.”

“What you mean, when you can’t get to your other money? Is everything all right? I mean, do you know something I don’t?”

“Look, all I’m saying is that I’m trying to stay out here on the streets as long as possible. And to do that, I gotta prepare for emergency situations ‘cause one day, I might have to leave the country. And when I do, my dough gotta be straight.” Ricky explained and then he exhaled deeply as he watched the cars that passed us.

I continued to drive in the direction of his favorite hangout spot. On the way, I couldn’t get up the nerve to bring up Nikki’s case. I just felt like now wasn’t the time. Besides, I wanted to see where Nikki was going to go with it first, which was another reason why I had to hold out just a little longer from telling Ricky.

After I let Ricky off, I pressed on to the bank and did what I had to do with Ricky’s money. But, before I placed that big envelope into the box, suspicion started killing me. I pulled all the money out and counted it. Just as I had suspected, there was more than twenty Gs in that envelope. Come to find out, he had double that amount in there, which threw me for a loop. I mean, he knew how nosey I was. So why would he lie and tell me one thing when it was another? He was probably testing me to see if I was gonna come back and tell him how much was really in there. I wasn’t gonna fall for his games, though. I’mma play stupid with his ass like I always did and let him think he got another one over my head.

Cut From A Different Cloth

My day was completely thrown off track. Everybody was pulling me in all different directions. I finally decided not to go into work at all today, since I had a lot of shit on my mind. I wasn’t gonna be able to function, so I called my clients and re-scheduled their appointments. Everybody was pretty understanding, which was good. I picked up a take-out order from Pargo’s and headed on to the crib. It was around six something when Nikki called me. I was watching Judge Joe Brown when the phone started ringing.

“What’s up, Kira?” Nikki greeted me.

“Hey, girl,” I replied in an offbeat manner, which was why Nikki asked me, what was wrong.

“I’m just tired,” I said.

“Did you work today?”

“Nah.”

“Well, why you so tired?”

“Because of all this shit that’s going on.”

“Don’t tell me Ricky acting up again.”

“Nah, it ain’t him. It’s about your case.”

“What’s wrong now?” Nikki asked.

“Your lawyer called me today and told me the Feds are picking up your case.”

“They what!” Nikki yelled through the phone and then she got quiet.

I knew right then and there she was about to break down because having the Feds pick up her case was what she was dreading. “But why?” she finally said.

“Because they want you to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“They want you to tell them who shit you was carrying.”

“So, what happens if I don’t?”

“They gon’ try to give you ten years,” I said in the calmest way I knew how. Even though, I knew Nikki wasn’t ready to hear what I had just told her, I knew she needed to know. That was the least I could do.

“Did Mr. Shapiro say he could stop them from doing that?”

“Well, if you wanna know the truth, I don’t think Mr. Shapiro can do anything. But he did tell me he was coming to see you tomorrow. So, ya’ll can talk about this.”

“If he can’t do shit to help me, then why is he bringing his ass down here?”

“Nikki, please, calm down.”

“I can’t, Kira. I can’t!”

“Well look, I’mma come see you tomorrow night so we can talk about this some more. A’ight?”

“Alright.”

“Okay. Getcha some rest and do some praying, ‘cause I think we can use some blessings right about now.”

“I do that every night.”

“Good. Now, wipe your tears away and hold your head up.”

“I’ll try.” Nikki responded between her sniffles.

Before Nikki’s time was up on the phone, I called Brian on three-way for her but as always, he wouldn’t answer his phone. He knew it was Nikki using my three-way, because I didn’t have a reason to call him. And if Ricky wanted him, he’d use his cell phone or two-way to get in touch with him. But I thanked God that Nikki finally got the hint and stopped asking me to call Brian. It was the best move she could’ve ever made.