Get It Girls (19 page)

When they finally walked away, Jessica put down the weapon and breathed for the first time.

**********

Jessica didn’t tell her mother what the boys had wanted that day only because she didn’t want to worry her. Instead, she told her not to worry because they only wanted to know where Jordan was because he owed them some money. But in her heart, Jessica knew she would have to tell her eventually.

She decided to wait until she found out more about this dude named Bosco before she knew for sure what to do about the situation. She asked Cleveland to check around the neighborhood and find out about him just in case they were just some punks trying to scare her, though she doubted it. Jessica was preparing to go to bed when she heard a light knock on the door. Not taking any chances, she grabbed the weapon from her purse and crept toward the door silently and peeked out the peephole. She saw that it was Cleveland and stuck the gun in her robe and opened up the door.

Sensing that he had some bad news by the expression on his face she quickly asked, “What’s wrong Cleveland?”

“Sorry for coming so late Jessica, but I couldn’t wait till the morning to tell you.”

Jessica placed one finger over her lips, signaling him to speak a little quieter. She looked behind her to see if her mother was around and stepped out in the hallway so they could talk.

He shook his head before he began to speak, “Jessica, I searched around neighborhood like you told me to do and asked around about your guy Bosco.” He eyed the floor and then looked at Jessica with what appeared to be fear in his eyes. “From what I heard, this guy is bad news. He’s one of the biggest dope peddlers on this side of Harlem, and he’s Jamaican and got a strong posse.” He paused briefly until he told her the real bad news. “He is also known to be very violent—a killer—and has the record to prove it. He is also known to kill off other drug rivals that try to deal in his spots. The word on the street is that he had several drug spots right here in this block and that he is pissed that he is no longer making money off of them and will be coming back real soon to reclaim them.”

He stared at Jessica and admitted, “We got another problem.”

Jessica could tell that Cleveland was clearly shaken because he closed his eyes and his body grew rigid.

He raised his head. “The same thing happened to you happened to some other people from the neighborhood on tenant patrol.”

“Oh, my God, they went to the tenants, too?” asked Jessica.

Cleveland nodded. “And they immediately left their posts and ran to the safety of their homes.”

“How many left their post?”

“All of them.” Cleveland sighed. “You got to understand, Jessica, a lot of these tenants are old. They’d rather lie down and take it rather get involved with these dealers and lose their life, even if it’s for a good cause.”

Jessica couldn’t believe all the work she had done was now in vain. She looked at Cleveland and asked, “So, what about you, Cleveland? What are you going to do?”

There was a long pause as Jessica watched him closely as he pondered the question.

“My daddy use to always tell me ‘Boy, either you in for a penny or in for a pound.’” He raised his head and smiled. “Well, I never liked pennies, so I guess I’m in for the pound.”

Jessica smiled and nodded her approval. They hugged and when Cleveland pulled away his face showed some concern.

“Now Jessica, you don’t have to be part of this. You young and got your whole life ahead of you. I’d understand if you wanted to walk away from this.”

“Not a chance. They already threatened the life of my family, and I don’t know where my brother is, so I got to get to them before they get to my brother.”

Cleveland agreed.

“All we got to do now is come up with a plan to get rid of them.”

Cleveland suddenly had a sadistic smile on his face as his lips curled and his eyebrow raised. “Now, baby girl, you just stepped into my world. I’m a ex infantry man and a Vietnam vet. I know a thing or two about ridding an enemy, and the best defense is a good offense.”

Jessica was confused and Cleveland read her face and said, “Don’t worry about it. You come down to my apartment in the morning and I’ll explain everything.”

Jessica agreed.

Cleveland nodded and was about to walk down the stairs when he suddenly turned around and said, “Oh, Jessica. I want you to know that I play for keeps, and that some of them won’t be coming back, so if you not ok with that, I suggest you back out right now.”

Jessica stared in his eyes, and for the first time since she met Cleveland, she saw another side to him—she saw death in his eyes. She thought about it only for a second before she nodded her approval. “I’m with you.”

He smiled. “One more thing. You need to try to get your mother to go away for a couple of weeks because they may want to get her to get to you, so think about it.”

C
leveland and Jessica spent the next entire morning and afternoon devising a plan to stop Bosco and his crew from not only harming them, but also ending his reign of terror and drug stranglehold on the neighborhood. Jessica found out that they would not be handling the fight alone and that Cleveland had recruited some of his Vietnam buddies from the war to help them with their problem. He also had a request for Jessica to do some recruiting of her own in order to complete the task at hand—female friends, which she had no problem getting. Jessica had a sit-down with her mother that same night and told her what she needed to hear, but not everything. Jessica was surprised that her mother took the bad news so well and agreed that she would go down south to visit her sister Cherice in Maryland. Since Ms. Jones was a schoolteacher, she didn’t have to worry about taking time off from work because she was out for summer vacation.

Jessica caught up with Kenny that night, and, as usual, they went out of the neighborhood to have dinner. Since it was Friday, Jessica had gone out earlier to 34th Street and brought a nice outfit and had her hair and nails done. Since she had gotten so close to Kenny over the last few weeks, she felt it was only right to tell Kenny some of the things that were going on. If something were to go down, she didn’t want him to be caught unwittingly in the crossfire. As much as she didn’t want to, she decided it would be best to put the relationship on hold, before it became too serious.

She told Kenny how dangerous it would be and assured him she wouldn’t be closely involved. He sat motionless and was stunned to know that she was putting her life in danger.

Kenny raised his head with sorrow in his eyes. “Jessica, I don’t want you to do this.”

Jessica remained silent as he continued to plead.

“I, I just don’t think that it is worth the effort to put your life on the line for something you have no control of. Why do it? You should just walk away and don’t look back.”

Jessica shook her head. “No, it’s not that simple. My brother is still out there somewhere and they can get to him and I won’t be able to live with that. Besides, the people on the block need me, and I’m going to finish what I started.”

Kenny shook his head again. “Jessica, those same people on your block could care less if they sold drugs or not, and they wouldn’t lose a night’s sleep if something happened to you. What you need to do is find your brother and I can put him and your mother up in one of the apartments I have in the Bronx, and you can stay with me.”

Jessica was touched by the gesture, but knew it would not work. “No, Kenny, my mother is going down to Maryland tomorrow, plus I still don’t know where my brother is, and he can’t be trusted alone anyway.”

“At least he’d be alive, Jessica!” Kenny snapped. He caught himself and apologized quickly. “I’m sorry, but the thought of you being put in danger got me messed up.”

“I understand. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Then why don’t you stay with me a couple of days to think about it?”

Jessica thought about it for a moment. “No, I can’t do that, Kenny, as much as I’d like to. I got too much to do.”

Kenny put his head down, defeated, and strained to find words to change her mind. “You got to understand, I lost you once, and I don’t want to risk losing you all over again. I love you, Jessica.”

Jessica was touched and took his hand into hers. “I love you too, Kenny, but I got to do what I got to do.”

Kenny studied her face and knew she would not waiver. He took a deep breath then smiled. “Well, can you at least stay with me tonight?”

Jessica blushed, and with a glint in her eyes, she nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

Kenny and Jessica made love the entire night, then they fell into each other’s arms exhausted. Kenny and Jessica held each other tightly the rest of the night, never wanting to let go. When Kenny awoke that morning Jessica was already gone.

He sat in bed and wondered what could have been.

**********

Jessica got back to the neighborhood right on time. When she arrived at her building she met up with Cleveland, who was standing in a circle with three other middle-aged men.

When Cleveland spotted Jessica, he smiled and waved his hand. “Jessica,” he yelled as she approached them. Cleveland appeared to be in an especially happy mood as he grasped his palms together and introduced her to the men.

“Jessica,” said Cleveland, “I would like you to meet a few of my old buddies from ’Nam.”

He put his arms on the shoulders of the man closest to him, a tall burly man with a thick cigar in his mouth. He had ugly burn marks on his face and arms.

“This here is Johnson, master of demolition and explosives.”

He turned to the next man, a Puerto Rican who was small in stature. He had a no-nonsense air about him, judging from the expression on his face. “This is Shooter, expert marksman, and weapons specialist.”

Shooter was still wearing his old olive green Army fatigues and tipped his black beret to Jessica.

“And this one here is Doc,” Cleveland said, “and I want you to watch out for him, ’cause he’s a ladies’ man.”

Doc smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. “Don’t tell her that. It ruins the excitement.” He gave Jessica a light hug and a peck on the cheek.”

Jessica blushed.

“He’s our reconnaissance man and driver. Don’t ask him why they call him Doc.” Cleveland smiled and playfully punched Doc on the arm. He inhaled deeply as he looked over his men and said excitedly, “Man, this reminds me of old times. It makes me feel nineteen again.”

“Hell, I’m still only twenty-five,” joked Doc as he leered at Jessica.

“Oh, there he go already,” joked Cleveland. “Anyway, we got a lot of planning to do and don’t have much time. And by the way, Jessica, I spoke to your mother, and I’m going to drive her down to the bus station tonight to make sure she’s safe and sound.”

Jessica thanked him.

“Ok, we’ll be in my apartment, so when you ready you can come on down we’ll fill you in on the plan.”

“Thank you, Cleveland. I’ll be down in about an hour, ok?”

“Ok, you just take your time. We’ll be here.”

“Yes,” flirted Doc, “We will be here waiting for your lovely presence.”

Jessica arrived upstairs and was looking forward to taking a hot bath and changing out of the clothes and heels she was wearing.

When she put her key in the lock her mother was already there to meet her at the door. “Jessica, where have you been? I was up all night worrying that something had happened to you.”

Jessica was caught off guard and surprised that her mother was that concerned about her.

Jessica smiled inside because in a strange way she felt a motherly love. “I’m sorry, Ma. I lost track of time and I didn’t expect to stay out all night. I should have called you. I’m sorry.”

“Between you and Jordan, and that incident with those men at the grocery store, my nerves have been shot lately.”

Jessica remained silent, and then walked into her room.

“You know I’m leaving tonight and that Cleveland is driving me down to the bus station?”

Jessica nodded.“Yeah, I know. I saw Cleveland downstairs and he told me.”

“You know, Jessica, you don’t have to stay here. You can come with me. Your aunt would love to see you. You don’t have anything to prove, you know.”

“I know, Mama. I’m not. And besides, you know I can’t go out of state without my parole officer knowing about it.”

Mrs. Jones nodded. “Well, you be careful, ok?”

“Ok.”

Ms. Jones glanced down at the floor then started walked out her room when Jessica called, “Mama?”

Ms. Jones turned around.

“Thanks for being concerned about me.”

Her mother gave her a light smile and relented, “I think it’s time we talk.”

Both Jessica and her mother knew that the strain in their relationship had to be dealt with sooner or later. Both of them had unsettling questions that needed to be answered so they could move on and that time had finally come. Jessica knew how much her mother loved her father and felt guilty that she caused him so much anguish since her arrest. She also knew how much he and her mother had sacrificed financially because the lawyer fees had wiped out their entire savings. Deep down, she knew her mother blamed her for it all, and she couldn’t help but admit the damage she had done and carried the burden of guilt on her small shoulders for years. When her mother lost her son to the street, Jessica knew that that must have been the final blow that left her so cold and shallow.

“Jessica, I know over the years that me and you never saw eye to eye and didn’t have the best mother-daughter relationship. But, I want to tell you that it never had anything to do with you. I guess I raised you the same way my mother raised me, and that was all that I knew. My mother told me something years ago that I never forgot. She told me that, ‘A mother raises her daughters, but loves her sons.’ I grew angry when she told me that because I thought she loved my brothers more than me and I resented her for that. It wasn’t until I had my own family that I began to understand why she told me that.” Jessica searched her mother’s eyes as she awaited an answer. “When you were born, I was excited about having you, but your father . . .” She smiled as she thought back. “Your father was absolutely overjoyed when you were born. I remember how he would hold you in his arms ever so gently and sing to you every night. He loved you more than life itself, and I knew from that point on that I could not possibly give you love the way a father could.” She began shaking her head as she reminisced. “That’s when it hit me. I now knew why my mother told me that. My job wasn’t to give you the love and affection the way your father did; my job was to raise you into a strong, self-reliant woman so you could survive and have your own family. Even though you went to prison, Jessica, I had faith in you and I was sure of one thing, and that was you would survive, because we are survivors, and you should always believe that!”