~Chapter 6~
~Snow~
November 26th, 2005
The next morning Bobby, Angel, Jack, and I drove to the corner store were Evelyn was shot to meet Jeremiah; "All right, I'm here" he said unenthusiastically; "What?"
"Last night we found out it wasn't random. The witness was paid, and the whole gang story was some bullshit" Angel explained.
"Are you serious, man?" Angel asked in disbelief; "Come on now"
"Hey" I said nudging Jack's arm, noticing the owner arrive; "He's here"
"Can I help you?" the owner asked as the five of us walked towards him.
"Yeah, if we could just have a moment of your time, sir. Evelyn Mercer was our mother" Jack answered.
"She was a good lady. I liked her very much" he replied; "Let's come inside"
When we got inside the owner turned on the surveillance video from the night of the shooting. I stood next to Jack holding his hand, he was breathing heavy, and his hand was shaking; "You want to see this?" I whispered to him.
"Stay with me" he whispered back, squeezing my hand.
"This doesn't add up" Bobby said, as we watched the gunman shoot the cashier, then head towards the back of the store to corner Evelyn; "He's already got the money"
We watched the end of the surveillance video as the gunman shot Evelyn and she fell to the floor. It took every ounce of strength inside me not to break down. I wanted to be strong for the guys, who were all upset with tears rolling down their faces. Jack started to sob, and I grabbed him and hugged him tightly; "Turn it off" I said, glaring at the owner.
"Supposedly there was a witness, told police this was a gang shooting. You know anything about that?" Bobby asked as the owner turned off the video.
"The police talked for a long time with one man. One man more than the others"
"Would you remember what this guy looks like if you see him?"
"He comes in for Gatorade after the games. Big guy. Always wears sweats, never a jacket. Even with snow or rain" he explained; "He has a dog and a…you know a…" he stammered, trying to pantomime what kind of hair the guy had.
"A fro?" Angel asked; "Like an Afro? Like Ben Wallace, the basketball player?"
"Pistons!" The owner said; "Yes, yes, Ben Wallace"
"Okay" Angel said shaking his head, looking at Bobby.
"Is he on the courts a lot?" Bobby asked.
"On the courts or at the gym" the owner answered. We didn't hang around to hear anything else, we turned and left the store.
"That wasn't no gang shooting, that was an execution. They set Mom up. They set her up" Bobby said angered as walked across the street; "Come on" With that, we all ran up onto the sidewalk and inside the high school gymnasium.
Once inside we walked right up to the sideline and started looking around, the gymnasium was packed with a predominately African American crowd watching the basketball game; "You guys ready? Bobby asked.
"What's the plan, Bobby?" Jeremiah asked.
"We're winging it, Jerry"
"We always wing it"
"We're gonna get killed" Jack said shaking his head, and I elbowed him.
"What you mean 'we', white boy?" Angel asked, turning to him.
"You ready?" Bobby asked, nudging Angel.
"Lexi you ready? Stick with Angel" Bobby ordered.
"Got it" I said, walking off with Angel as Bobby walked out onto the court.
"Here we go" Jack said sarcastically as Jeremiah looked amazed by Bobby.
The buzzer rang and the players and referees circled Bobby at center court; "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but you better get the hell out of here, friend" one of the refs said.
"I'd love to, friend" Bobby replied, taking the basketball ball out of the ref's hand; "But I can't" he turned around and started dribbling the ball, putting on a show; "Yeah! I got the rock now! I got this motherfucker now!" The crowd, as well as the players on the court, started to get furious; "What? What? I got the rock!"
One player stepped up to Bobby; "Yo what you doing bitch?" Bobby shoved the basketball in his face, then threw the guy to the ground. Jeremiah stepped out on the court to back Bobby up, with Jack keeping watch, as all the other players grabbed Bobby to try and fight him.
"Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa" Bobby said, whipping out his gun; "No need to grab me" he pointed his gun at the players as they all stepped back; "This will only take a second. Now shut up and listen"
"Get off! Get off the floor!" the angry crowd started to scream.
"My name is Bobby Mercer" Bobby yelled; "And some of you probably knew my mother. And some of you probably know she was shot about a week ago across the street. Sixty-two years old, murdered in cold blood! I'm looking for the witness"
"Think about it, Bobby, think. Think!" Jeremiah pleaded, standing next to his brother, trying to get him off the court
"I got this" Bobby said quietly and calmly, to Jeremiah, then turned back to the court; "Ballplayer. Big guy. Supposedly never wears a coat. Dog lover. Ring any bells? You tell me where I can find the guy and you can finish your game. All we wanna do is talk to the guy"
Just then a kid wearing a blue and red jacket, and red baseball cap stood up in the bleachers and walked out of the gymnasium. Jack noticed him and followed him out into the hallway; "Hey! Hey, kid!" The kid turned and looked at Jack, then took off running; "No running in the halls!" Jack yelled, and started chased him.
The kid ran to the end of the hallway and tried to push open a set of doors that Angel and I were pushing shut on the other side, he tripped backwards and Jack grabbed him by the arms; "Get off me, man!"
"Why you running?" Jack asked, trying to hold him.
"Get off me, man. Man, I don't know nothing"
"Why don't you shut up?" I demanded.
"You got something to tell me, youngster?" Angel asked getting the kids face.
Meanwhile back in the gymnasium, Bobby and Jeremiah were trying to control the crowd; "Back the fuck up!" Jeremiah yelled to a player who got to close to him and Bobby.
"I'm looking for who killed my mother. You tell me where I can find this guy and you can finish your game" Bobby repeated, still holding the basketball.
I walked in the gymnasium and got Jeremiah's attention and signaled that we had somebody out in the hall; "Lexi" Jeremiah said, pointing me out to Bobby.
"I appreciate your help very much. You've all been upstanding citizens. Assalaam Alaikum. Enjoy the rest of your game" Bobby yelled, suddenly changing his attitude, and tossed the ball over his shoulder.
"You crazy as hell" Jeremiah said under his breath, following Bobby and I out of the gymnasium.
"What do we got here?" Bobby asked as he, Jeremiah, and I walked in the hallway where Jack and Angel had the kid.
"Bobby, meet Keenon. Keenon, this is Bobby" Angel introduced; "Something tells me he was on his way to deliver a warning."
"What's his name, Keenon?" Bobby asked.
"Damian. He's my brother"
"He's your brother? No shit. These are my brothers"
Keenon looked at us; "No, dog. He's my real brother"
"Yeah, these are my real brothers" Bobby said with a laugh; "This is Angel, I'm Bobby. This is Jack and Jeremiah"
"Who's she?" Keenon asked, glaring at me.
"Her name's Lexi. That's all you need to know" he replied; "So, what about you and Damian? You guys still close? Does he live at home with you?"
"Yeah. But I ain't telling you shit else"
"Okay"
"I wouldn't sell out my brothers either" I said smiling coyly at him.
Bobby slipped Keenon's backpack off his shoulder and handed it to Angel; "Just calm down, okay? Look, we just wanna talk to him. We wanna ask him a few questions. Is he gonna cooperate?"
"We got something" Jeremiah said, taking a paper from Angel
"Address?" Bobby asked.
"He lives in The Gardens, right over there" Jeremiah explained.
"Enjoy the rest of the game, okay? Don't worry about it" Bobby said, walking away.
Jack grabbed the paper out of Jeremiah's hand and looked at it; "These are nice grades. Better stay in school"
As I walked past Keenon I picked his gaudy necklace up off his chest and looked at it; "What is that? Aluminum?"
Jack took it out of my hand and looked at it; "Shit doesn't even spin"
"Come on guys" Angel said, and we walked out of the high school together.
We went back to the corner store and got our weapons from the night before, including my gun I transferred to Bobby's car, then drove a block to The Gardens to wait for Damian.; "I just don't get it. Why would somebody hire a goddamn killer to shoot Mom?" Angel asked.
"Here's an idea" Bobby said; "We'll wait for the shithead to get back and we'll ask him"
"Well, y'all do what y'all gotta do. I got gymnastics. Come on, let me out" Jeremiah said, and the rest of us started laughing.
"You got your leotard on, Jerry?" Bobby asked.
"Go to hell. Y'all know what I'm talking about. I got a schedule to keep. Girls got gymnastics, I gotta take them. Come on, let me out, man" he explained.
Bobby opened the driver side door then scooted up in his seat and unhinged the back so Jeremiah could get out; "You wanna take Cracker Jack with you? He's very flexible"
"Bobby, you're the one who took ballet" Jack said under his breath.
"All right, Jerry" Bobby yelled as Jeremiah got out, and he fixed his seat.
"All right, man" he replied as he took off running back to his car.
I scooted over in the backseat onto my own side, while Jack drew with his finger on the frost that built up on the window; "I don't mindif it rains or freezesLong as I gotmy plastic JesusRiding on the dashboard" he sang quietly.
"I don't know how you did it for so many years man, must have driven you crazy, Angel" Bobby said, turning to him; "You're on a ship for what, six months at a time with nothing but dudes?"
"It wasn't a ship, and the Marines went coed. They got girls now"
"Yeah, I bet you them girls look like dudes too, though"
"Not after six months they don't"
"Gross" I said rolling my eyes.
"Comes in colorsPink and pleasantGlows in the dark" Jack continued to sing; "Hey, that's him. It's him!" Jack yelled, realizing Damian was walking into the building. We piled out of the car, ran into the building, and noticed Damian at the end of a hallway about to get on an elevator.
"Damian! Damian!" I yelled holding up my gun; "Don't you fucking run!"
The elevator opened and he ran inside; "Why you pulling out guns and shit, Lexi?" Angel asked as we all ran after him.
When we got to the elevator it was already closed; "Yo!" Bobby yelled, and kicked the door, then started pushing the elevator buttons randomly; "Jack, stay here. Tell me where it stops"
"Lexi! Be careful!" Jack yelled as Bobby, Angel and I headed upstairs.
Bobby and I were ahead of Angel running up the flights of stairs; "Come on, you Marine" I teased; "Get your ass up here"
"We got this clown! Come on!" Bobby yelled.
Just then Jack opened a stairway door; "Six! He stopped at six!"
"Come on" I yelled, rolling my eyes as Bobby, Angel and I continued to run up the flights of stairs.
Finally Bobby and I reached the sixth floor and we walked down the hallway side by side towards Damian's door; "Yo! Yo, Damian, we just wanna ask you a few questions!" Bobby yelled pointing his gun at him.
"I got something for your ass! Bite their asses, Chucky!" Damian said, letting two rottweiler dogs out into the hall.
"Oh, shit!" Bobby yelled stepping back and shooting at the dogs.
"Fuck! Bobby!" I yelled as one dog jumped up and bit me on the wrist, pulling me to the ground; "Shoot it! Kill the fucker!"
"Yo, don't shoot my dogs man" Damian pleaded from his door. The other dog jumped on Bobby, knocking the gun out of his hand and pulling him to the ground, biting him on the leg; "They got you! That's right! Bite their ass!"
"Angel!" I yelled; "Bobby! Where the fuck is Jack?"
"Shit! Angel!" Bobby started to yell; "Get this fucking dog off my leg!"
"Get the fucking dog off my arm" I yelled back; "Where the fuck is Angel?"
Angel finally showed up on the floor and turned towards us; "There's a dog trying to eat me, man! Help me, man" Bobby yelled.
"Hold on!" Angel said, disappearing.
"Angel! You motherfucker get back here!" I screamed.
"It's biting my legs off!" Bobby yelled in pain.
Finally Angel came back with a fire extinguisher and sprayed the dogs; "Get up off of them! Get up off my brother, little boy! What you doing?"
Bobby and I stood up and limped into Damien's apartment while Angel locked the dogs outside in the hallway; "Where you at, playboy?" Angel yelled.
"My eyes" I screamed, trying to open them; "It burns"
"Give us something for ours eyes!" Bobby begged.
"We just wanna talk!" Angel yelled then handed us a bottle of water; "Put that in your eyes"
"Talk, huh?" I asked sarcastically as I poured the water in my eyes.
"The window! The window!" Angel yelled, noticing the window was open, he and Bobby ran over and looked outside and saw Damien repelling down the side of the building with a rope.
Damien noticed them and shot up at them; "Y'all didn't know who you was messing with!" he yelled back as Angel shot a few rounds back at him.
"Give me my gun! Give me my gun! I ain't playing with this dude!" Bobby yelled, getting aggravated and took the gun from Angel; "I just wanted to talk!" he yelled out of the window, then Damien shot up at him.
"Bobby! Here!" I said, finding a meat cleaver in the kitchen; "Do it!"
"You're going down now!" Bobby said and cut the rope Damien was on, he fell to the ground screaming.
"Think he dead?" Angel asked, looking out the window.
"No, he ain't dead. He's just fucked up" Bobby said, looking out also.
"Let's go talk to him now" I said, putting my gun back in my jacket pocket.
"What happened?" Jack asked when we met up in the hallway.
"Rotti" I said looking at my arm; "I'll be alright"
"You weren't with her?" Jack asked looking at Bobby; "She got hurt"
"Thanks for your concern Jackie" Bobby said as we walked outside; "I got bit too if you didn't notice"
"Man, you must be freezing!" Jack yelled as the four of us walked up to Damien, laying in the snow.
Angel picked up Damien's gun off the ground; "You won't be needing this no more, playboy"
"You know why we're here, Damian?" Bobby asked standing over him. "Come on, man, call me an ambulance" Damian begged, shivering.
"An ambulance? What, for our dog bites? We'll be alright" I assured him.
"You give me a name, I'll call 911. I wanna know who shot up that liquor store now" Bobby demanded.
"Man, l didn't shoot no one"
"Say what? Speak up" Angel said; "Can't hear you, playboy. It's hard to hear you out here with all this wind. If we leave, ain't nobody else gonna hear you out here either"
"They say it's gonna be a cold night. You ain't gonna make it far with that leg" Jack added, whirling the crowbar around in his hand.
"Look, man, these two fools said they'd pay me a few dubs if I said I saw some gangsters shoot up the place, all right? But I didn't hurt no one!"
"Alright, well turn into a fucking Fudgesicle" I said and turned around.
"Hey, come on, man! I can't say nothing!"
"Fair enough. You're gonna die right here" Bobby said and he, Angel and I walked away. Jack hesitated for a minute, but soon ran to catch up.
"Yo, man, come on! Yo, man!" Damien pleaded.
"I'm calling his bluff" Bobby said.
"Hey, come on! Call me an ambulance! Come on" Damien continued to yell.
"Think he gonna break?" Angel asked Bobby.
"You see that sparerib hanging out of his leg? It's just a matter of time"
"You sure?"
"You wanna put money on it?" I chimed in.
"Are you sure?" Angel asked with a laugh. Damien was still yelling and Jack turned to look at him, always the sympathetic one; "Turn around, dick lips!"
"What the fuck you looking at?" Bobby asked Jack.
"I'll tell you where you can find him!" Damien finally yelled.
"Told ya" I said smiling at Angel.
"Come on!" Bobby said and we ran back over to Damien.
"Just call me an ambulance"
"Give me a name" Bobby demanded.
"And where can we find him" I added.
In the car ride over to the location I sat in the front seat, and Jack and Angel were in the backseat. It felt sort of awkward in times like these because Jack and I always want to hold hands, kiss each other, and be together. We get caught up in the moment and aren't close until we're back at home safe and sound in his bed. I turned around and smiled at him; "Lexi you were great back there but when we go in here I want you stay close alright?" Bobby said, snapping my attention back to the task at hand; "You hear me?"
"I heard you. Dad" I said sarcastically. Whenever Bobby got too bossy with me I always called him 'Dad'.
"I mean it Lexi"
"Alright. I heard you the first time"
When we got to the restaurant we walked inside and stood in the doorway, looking for the men Damien desecrated to us; "Goatee. Goatee. Look for the man with the goatee" Angel reminded us, under his breath.
"There he is" Jack said noticing him, he nudged Bobby in the arm.
"Where?"
"Right there. The guy with the goatee" Jack said pointing to a guy at the bar.
"I see him Jack put your fucking hand down" Bobby said shoving Jack's arm down; "So worried about Lexi being safe, start acting smart"
At that moment the guys at the bar noticed us at the doors and our eyes met; "I see him. I see him. Come on. Let's get him" I said, reaching for my gun but before I could grab it one of the guys shot at us. We ducked and started to run, following the guys out the back.
Jack was the first one outside after the guys; "Get it, Jackie-o!" Bobby yelled as Jack fired three times, the last one hitting the car the guys were getting away in; "You go, girl! Let's get these motherfuckers"
We got into Bobby's car and chased after them; "Punch it, Bobby! Punch it!" Angel, who was sitting in the front seat yelled.
"I got no traction! I'm sliding all over the fucking street!" Bobby yelled, trying to keep the wheel straight as we sped away. We turned a corner and slid right into a parked car; "Shit! Shit! I scraped the whole side of my fucking car!"
"We gotta get these guys before you kill us!" Jack yelled at Bobby.
"Sit back and put your seat belts on" Bobby yelled back; "Watch Lexi"
Jack and I sat back and buckled our seat belts, I looked at him and he kissed me real quick; "It'll be alright" Just then a few shots came through the windshield.
"Where the hell's that shotgun, Jack?" Bobby yelled turning around.
"There's no shells" Jack said, cocking it a few times.
"Stop arguing and look" Angel pleaded.
"They're in the trunk" Bobby shouted back.
Jack reached back to look; "What the hell am I -"
"You want my gun?" I asked.
"Just sit down and shut up!" Bobby ordered; "Angel, stick that cannon out the window and bust some shots!"
"I'm gonna put one in the back of their heads!"
"Shoot those sons of bitches, Angel! Get them! Shoot that motherfucker!" I yelled from the backseat as Angel shot a round into the drivers shoulder.
"You got him!" Bobby yelled, noticing the car swerving all over the road. The car hit a snow bank, flew into the air and came back down only to skid into another snow bank.
"We are gonna die" I said, watching the other car from the center of the seat.
"No your not. You guys got your seatbelts on?" Bobby asked; "Watch this" We plowed through the snow bank, and spun around a few times; "Shit! Shit!" More shots came through the windshield as we ducked and Angel leaned out the window and started shooting; "Pop them, Angel! Pop them! Get them!"
Just then we hit a bump and Angel almost fell out of the car; "Whoa!" Jack said, grabbing him and pulling him back in.
"Angel, get your ass in here!" Bobby yelled.
"Bobby what is that?" I yelled, noticing a screeching noise out the window.
"Shit! We got a fucking blowout!"
"Bobby, let's just stop the car! Okay, Bobby? Let's stop!" Jack begged.
"Shut up, Jack!"
"Bobby just ride it out on the rim, you'll be fine. We got them!" I yelled as Bobby continued to follow down the road, and across a bridge.
"Ready?" Bobby asked, then got behind the other car and drove into it; "Hold on. I got them now. I got them. Hold on!" Bobby pulled up next to the car, then turned hard to the right and hit the car again.
"Get them! Get them!" I yelled.
"Hold on!" Bobby slammed on the brakes, and using the lack of traction from the road to his advantage he spun and slammed into the other car, sending it flipping end over end. The car slid for a while on the roof before coming to a stop.
"You did not just fucking do that!" I yelled; "Who taught you that?"
"That's what I'm talking about, Bobby" Angel yelled.
Bobby stopped the car and we all got out; "Jack, Lexi you wait here" Bobby said as he and Angel walked up to the other car, holding their guns. He ran up to one of the guys and started kicking and hitting him.
"Get your punk ass out the car" Angel said to the other, pulling him out.
"Fuck you!" the guy yelled and Angel started beating him up.
"Who sent you?" Angel demanded.
"I ain't telling you shit!"
Jack and I stood there watching Angel and Bobby beat the two guys who killed Evelyn. We were in shock. We just stood there. Silent.
"Get his wallet" Bobby ordered Angel.
"You fucked with the wrong lady" Angel said still kicking his guy, then he stood up and shot him and Bobby shot the guy he was beating up. Jack turned around, covering his face with his hands.
"Motherfucker deserved it" I yelled proudly.
"Let's get the fuck out of here, man" Angel said looking at Bobby and they both walked back over to us.
Bobby grabbed Jack's arm "Let's go Jack"
"Come on Lexi" Angle said taking my hand.
"Are they dead?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, they gone!" Angel answered.
"They killed Mom. We got them" Bobby said getting in the car.