Detective House
(71st and Jeffery)
“Officer Dixon, this is what you call a hot mess. From the looks of things, this was a planned robbery. No forced entry and no damn security cameras.”
This fits the M.O. of that Indiana robbery. I’m not jumping to conclusions, but I’d bet my paycheck that it has the E.S.C. crew all over it.
“Boss, we got a bloody mess out back. Come take a look.”
On the way to the back of the bank, I stopped to look at the dead bank manager’s body. “Damn, they did her dirty. Whoever did this has some serious mental issues.”
Officer Dixon came walking towards me looking as if she wanted me to break her ass off. I had to literally adjust my dick in my pants. She caught the whole move.
“You so nasty! Stop looking at me as if I’m a piece of Harold’s Chicken! Anyway, you ain’t gon believe who’s laid out in the alley.”
“Amuse me.”
“Ramone aka Big Moe Harris.”
“I’m lost.”
“Ugh. Don’t you do your homework?”
“Only on things that matter.”
“Well genius, this matters. Let me refresh your memory. J.R. Harris? Donte aka Boogie Harris?”
“Aw shit! Dude from the Indiana bank and dude from that kick door over on Marquette.”
“Bingo!”
“Fuck me sideways!”
“No thank you.”
I had to smile at her quickness. “Not you love. If I ever get the chance, I would fuck you straight, from the back, on your---”
“I get the point creep. This shit is connected.”
My radio chirped. “Boss, you gotta get over here.”
“Where?”
“5th and 3rd bank on the corner of Stoney Island. It was a robbery over here at about the same time that bank on Jeffery was hit.”
“No shit?”
“I guess they forgot the plan because the bank manager escaped.”
“Holy shit! I’m on my way. Escort them to the police station. I’ll be there shortly.”
I looked at Dixon. “We got a witness!”
(Fifteen Minutes Later)
After taking a look at the Stoney Island robbery, I was ready to get to the witness. I glanced at Dixon and noticed that she was deep in thought.
“What’s on your mind, sexy?”
She smiled and licked her lips. “My sister is doing some time in the FEDS and I’m worried about her. Ever since our Dad passed away, she has been, well, different.”
“Just be there for her. That’s all you can do. When she gets out, move her to the Chi.”
She laughed. “Chicago ain’t ready for Moe Betta!”
I was speechless. People and their damn nicknames. “Moe Betta?”
She rolled her eyes. “Moe Betta, breaking them hoes for they chedda.”
Why did I even ask? When we arrived at the station, I went straight to the interrogating room. I saw an old white lady sitting in a chair looking petrified. She was being questioned by one of our rookies. That dumb motherfucker was questioning her as if she was the main suspect. “So you mean to tell me that you are the victim?”
“Yes sir, I am.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m an eighty-one year old woman, young man. I am the victim. Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to speak to your elders? I have told you the truth. I’ll be happy to explain this story to you just one more time. I was at home getting ready to go to Dunkin Donuts because you know I gotta have my caffeine fix. I made sure to lock up my home. There’s some crazy people out there. I walked to my car and was about to stick my key in the door when all of a sudden, a person walked up behind me with a gun and told me to shut the fuck up and get in the car. Excuse my French, young man. After we got in the car, I was directed to drive to the bank. I even tried to talk some sense into that child. Do you know that little heifer hit me?”
“Is that why you have that bruise on the side of your face?”
“Yes sir. She hit me several times. If she didn’t have that gun, I had the right mind to bend her over my knee and spank her little tail.”
I saw that the rookie was getting impatient with the old lady.
“Get on with the story, will you?”
I gotta admit that the old bat was snappy.
“Don’t use that tone with me! Y’all little motherfuckers are all so damn disrespectful! You’re lucky that I’m saved. Don’t raise your voice at me again, do you understand?”
The rookie was taken back by her aggressiveness. “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Now, that’s better. Where was I? Oh yes, after she hit me several times, we finally arrived at the bank. She looked at me and said that if I didn’t wanna die, then I should do whatever she said, so I complied. Hell, that wasn’t my money in the bank. When we entered the bank, another person joined us. I don’t know if it was a he or a she. Looked like a boy, but sounded like a girl.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It sounded like a girl, but it definitely looked like a boy. Stop interrupting me. My mind is not that sharp anymore. You better shut up while I can still remember.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“After the second person entered the bank, I just knew I was in trouble. After opening up the vault for them, I crawled under the counter and kinda just prayed that they would forget about me. No more than five minutes later, a third person came into the bank. Now that person came in with the intentions on harming the other two. I’m almost certain that they called him Gucci Man. No, no, no wait. They called him Lil Man. Lil Man called one of them E. That Lil Man guy also said that they killed his brother and that Big Hoe was gonna kill them other two bitches. Wait, not Big Hoe, it was Big Moe.”
“So, Lil Man was claiming that the two in the bank and two more people killed his brother?”
“Right, but that’s not it. Somebody named Young came in the bank and tried to talk Lil Man out of killing his sister. That’s when I heard a shot. Somebody screamed, Miko after that. I was still praying that they forgot about me. I was scared outta my damn mind.”
“You’re doing fine. Do you wanna take a break?”
“No because I’m almost finished. Two people started fighting. I didn’t see who, so don’t ask. Now, that’s all I know.”
“You did well. Are you sure you weren’t involved?”
“Young man, don’t make me put these palms on you.”