by SIPort
TC was still sitting in his bedroom when he heard a knock on the door.
“ Daddy?”
Whitney opened the door to see her father sitting at the window. Whitney kneeled beside him, and placed her head in his lap. “ I guess it’s over.”, she said quietly.
TC just stroked her hair.
“ Daddy, it’s going to be fine. We’ll find Simone, bring her home, and it will all be fine.”
TC said nothing, and father/daughter cried together.
“ I don’t feel right leaving you like this.”, Julian said to Eve, standing at her door.
“ Julian, you made sure that dinner was delivered. If I get hungry later on, I’ll eat something. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Julian. But, tonight, I need to be alone. “
“ I…I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”
“ I know. And, you’re so sweet to care.” Eve kissed Julian on the cheek. “ You go on. I’ll be fine.”
Julian hesitated, but nodded. “ If you need ANYTHING..”
“ I know.”
“ Miguel, I don’t know why YOU have to do this with Kay?”, Charity pouted.
“ Charity, can’t you see? Kay needs to keep busy. She’s worried and scared out of her mind about Simone. She was climbing the walls, and then when she came up with this suggestion, I thought it was great.”
Charity had her back to Miguel, so he couldn’t see her roll her eyes. She was worried about Simone too, but something in her gut told her that all the time Miguel and Kay were spending together wasn’t good. When Kay came up with the idea to cook first, for the men searching for Simone, and then for local homeless shelter, Charity shook her head in disgust. Miguel barely leaves Kay’s side. Only to go home to sleep and shower. Outside of that, he’s with Kay- buying food, cooking food, serving food. She couldn’t remember the last time she had spent any alone time with Miguel.
Kay listened at the door to Charity and Miguel’s argument. She shook her head. Any other time, she’d be thrilled. Heck, she wishes that this actually WAS a scheme of hers, but to be honest, she felt like killing someone when Simone went missing. In between the rages were hours of crying. So, the cooking idea came as a way to be productive. She’s so tired at the end of all this cooking that she usually collapses into bed, where she can dream of happier times with Simone.
Every night, on their way home from the shelter, she and Miguel stopped by the church to light a candle for Simone.
Miguel had been her rock. Everything that she loved about him was evident, but his support had meant the world to her. This wasn’t a scheme on her part, but if it upset Charity, that was a bonus.
The timer went off, and Kay went to the oven to take out tonight’s main dish.
Chad walked into the strip club. It wasn’t quite night, so there wasn’t a big crowd. He went over to the bar.
“ Looking for Maliq.”
Bartender motioned towards a door. Chad went to the door and opened it. On the other side was a hallway, with bodyguards. Chad put his arms up to be padded, and was shown into the office at the end of the hall. Maliq was sitting behind a huge desk. Chad went over to the desk and Maliq slid a piece of paper towards him.
“ That’s the address in the Bronx. I think you’ll find your friend Hakim there.”
Chad put down an envelope on the table. “ Nice doing business with you. About that other matter..”
“ Go out my club. On the street corner, it’s Javier’s Bodega. Ask for Raoul. He’s expecting you.”
“ Thanks.”
Chad left the strip club and found his way to Javier’s, going up to the cashier, and asked for Raoul.
Chad goes where he was told, into the back of the store.
“ Maliq sent me.”
“ You got my money?”
Chad hands the guy five hundred dollars. He hands Chad a scarf. Chad opens it, and there’s a gun.
“ Fully loaded. Just like you said.”
“ Thanks.”
“ No problem.”
Chad put the gun into his jacket and left the store. He walked to a corner where he knew a Black man could get a cab - for a steep price. He entered the cab, pulled out his money, and gave the address.
It took about an hour to get there, and when they arrived, it was a horrible, grungy, filthy building.
Chad walked past lowlifes, and up the stairs to the apartment written down on his paper. He pulled out the gun, and entered the apartment. There were two junkies in the far corner. He pointed the gun.
“ Where is Hakim?”
“ Who?”
“ Hakim?”
“ Man, we don’t know no Hakim. We just came to chill. There was a raid last night.”
“ Last night?”
“ Yeah. Don’t you see the chalk lines?”
Chad looked around the room and saw two chalk lines. His stomach flipped.
“ Get the **** out.”
“ Yo man, no problem. “ The junkies backed out of the room. Chad closed the door to the apartment, and looked around. It was a total dump. He saw the pools of blood. In the corner, he saw the police tape.
Chad searched the other room for any kind of clues. The hair on the back of his neck went up, and his instincts kicked in.
“ Put your hands up!”, the voice boomed as he kicked in the door.
“ The hands are up.” Chad stood there, like stone, his hands in the air. Soon he was face to face with a cop.
“ What are you doing here?”
Chad said nothing.
“ What are you doing here?”
Still nothing.
The cop pulled Chad’s hands behind his back and handcuffed him. “ Butch! In here!” Soon, the cop’s partner was in there.” You watch him.”
The cop looked over in the pile of mess and came up with the gun that Chad had purchased. “ Well, my my. What do we have here, my ‘ Brotha’?”
Chad said nothing.
“ He’s the silent type”, Butch commented. “ Let’s see how silent you are in lock up.”
They pushed Chad out of the apartment and down the stairs into the unmarked police car. When they got to the police station, they isolated Chad in an interrogation room.
“ So, Mr. Slick, with no ID, what were you doing there?”
Silence.
“ You’re a smart guy, huh? Think you’re ‘ all that?’” Butch came up and ‘ accidentally’ pushed the chair out from under Chad, who got back up.
“ We got you in a drug den, ‘My Man’. We got you with a piece, and I’ll be willing to bet that it’s not registered. You want to talk?”
Silence.
This went on for over an hour. At the end, Chad said nothing. As they were taking him out, Chad finally spoke up.
“ When will I get my one phone call?”
They laughed. “ Oh, he wants his one phone call, Butch.”
“ Yeah, his one phone call. “
They slammed Chad into the door. “ There’s your phone call.”
Chad got sent down to the main holding cell. He waited until the cops who arrested him were gone, and motioned over for the officer supposedly supervising the holding cells.
“ What do you want?”
“ You wanna make some quick money?”
He stares at Chad. “ Nigga, please. You don’t look like you have anything to pay.”
“ Appearances. So, you want the quick money?”
“ How much?”
“ Name your price.”
“ For what?”
Chad took off his shirt, and began chewing on a thread. He gnawed it loose, and was able to pull out the card he had hidden there. Chad handed it to the officer.
“ Call this guy. Tell him who you are, where this station is, and the information on the back.”
“ And for my trouble?”
“ Five grand?”
The man’s eyes popped. “ You ****tin’ me?”
“ Nope. “
“ For a phone call?”
“ Yep. Time is money.”
“ Sure.”
The cop leaves the holding cell. “ Hey, Buster, watch the animals. I’ll be back with sodas in a few minutes.”
“ Sure.”
The cop went to a private office and dialed the number.
After a few rings.
“ Hello?”, the groggy voice said on the other end.
“ Is this Kenneth Keyes?”
“ Yes.”
“ I work at a Police Station in the Bronx. I was given this card by a Chad Crane. He wrote on it. Said to tell you, Julian Crane said for you to whatever it took to help him. .,…..you there?”
“ Yes. Give me the exact address of your police station.”
The officer did just that, and also said that there was a fee for the call.
“ I’ll find out from my client what your fee is.”
“ He wrote on the card to tell you that he’s the John Doe, found in the apartment, who wouldn’t talk to them, and one of his arresting officer is named Butch.”
“ Can YOU give me the name of his arresting officers?”
“ Sure.”
The officer does that, and Kenneth thanks him. He hangs up the phone, and thinks for a minute. Picking up the phone, he dials.
“ We have a Crane emergency. I want the team assembled in the lobby of my apartment building in 30 minutes.”
An hour and a half later, the officer at the holding cell called out.
“ John Doe.”
Chad went to the door.
“ Someone likes you.”
“ Thanks.”
He opened the door and Chad left. “ So, when do I..”
“ Give me a phone number.” The police officer slipped it to him. Chad went upstairs.
“ Mr. Doe, I presume.”
“ Hello, Mr. Keyes.”
“ We need to talk.” Chad and his lawyer went into a meeting room.
“ So, you want to talk, Mr. Doe?”
“ I didn’t have any ID on me, because I didn’t want the wrong people knowing who I was.”
“ I understand. They have you in a drug den? They have you with an illegal firearm?”
“ No drugs on me. And, there’s not a print of mine on that gun. You’re smart enough to get me out of any crap they pull.”
“ Ok. So, what do you want?”
“ I went there looking for my younger sister. She would have probably been there with a guy. His name is Hakim. “
“ So, you want me to go out there and talk to the officers about one of their cases?”
“ Yes. I want to find my sister. I need to know if one of the chalk lines I saw on the floor in that apartment is..”
“ Ok. Ok. Give me a little time. You need anything else?”
“ Five bills for a friend. “
“ I’ll work on it.”
Keyes left the room, and they brought in a sandwich and something to drink. It was awhile, but then Keyes came back in, accompanies by a woman.
“ This is Megan. She works for Social Services. Tell Mr. Crane what you told me.”
“ I was called in night before last to that address here, in the Bronx. They had found a young girl, hiding in a secret passage.”
“ Young, brown-skinned, beautiful eyes.”
“ Sounds right.”
“ Well, where is she?”
“ When she didn’t respond, we sent her to Bellevue.”
“ BELLEVUE?”
“ She wouldn’t even walk on her own. They had to carry her to the ambulance.”
Chad looked at Keyes. “ I have GOT to get out of here!”
“ I know..I have a call into a judge. “ Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Chad saw a man standing in the door, waiving a piece of paper. Keyes turned to Chad. “ You’ll be out of here in 15 minutes.”
Chad paced the room, ready to climb the walls when Keyes came in.
“ Ok, Chad. I’ll take you out of here, back home.”
“ HOME? I want to go to Bellevue!”
“ Look. I’ve used as many connections as possible to get you out on your own recognizance. I’ll take you home. You get a shower, and I promise I’ll have a limo pick you up at 7:30. We’ll be at Bellevue by 8:30, and begin work on getting your sister out of there. “
Chad looked at the man. Everything in him screamed that he should go get Simone, but it didn’t make any sense. He should get a little rest, and a shower, so that he could be fit to fight for his sister. Plus, he had to talk to his parents.
“ Ok. Next stop, Harlem.”
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