Never be Queen for a Day.
—FRENCHIE
Cops knocked on Frenchie’s door at nine the next morning. She was already up, watching the news as the reporters talked about the homicide that had occurred in her apartment complex just a day before. She shook her head in disgust. She had been copping crack from Nephew for years and felt bad for how this had gone down. She closed her robe and went to the door to see who was banging so loudly.
“Who the fuck is banging like the mu’fuckin police?” she asked as she snatched the door open with a heavy attitude. To her surprise, it was the police. Two middle-aged white men in suits and with badges hanging from their necks. Both of them had potbellies and buzz cuts.
“Hello, ma’am. We are with the Flint Police Department. I’m Detective Green and this is my partner, Detective Wilson. We need to speak with your son about a homicide that happened yesterday,” the taller officer said.
“Homicide? My baby doesn’t know anything about no homicide,” Frenchie snapped as she rolled her eyes at the officer.
“Listen, we just want to talk to him. That’s all,” the shorter officer added.
“Fuck that. Y’all don’t need to talk to my baby about shit. He doesn’t have any kick-it for neither of you,” Frenchie said confidently as she began to close the door. Just before the door closed, one of the officers put his foot inside, stopping it.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I only need thirty minutes to get a warrant to come in and get him. He is not in any trouble, we just want to ask him some questions. We know he used to be Nephew’s runner. Just a few questions, that’s all.”
Frenchie thought about putting up a fight, but then she thought about the drug pipes and things she had around the house. She didn’t want Child Protective Services to get involved, so she opened the door while rolling her eyes.
“Five minutes!” she spat as she stepped to the side.
“Five minutes. That’s all we need, ma’am,” the shorter officer said. The two walked past her and went to sit on her couch.
“Uh uh. Don’t sit on my couch. You won’t be here long enough to get comfortable,” she said, stopping the officers in mid-squat. “Basil! Get in here!” Frenchie yelled back into the apartment. Seconds later, Basil emerged.
“Yes, ma’am,” Basil said as he stepped into the living room, surprised to see the two unfamiliar white men.
“These two men said they need to ask you some questions,” Frenchie said.
“Hello, Basil. I’m Officer Green and this is my partner. We need to ask you about Nephew,” one of the men said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small notebook. Basil remained quiet as he stood before the two officers.
“When is the last time you saw Nephew?” the other officer asked. Basil simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know … a couple days ago, maybe,” Basil said without emotion.
“We were told you were seen coming out of his apartment yesterday,” the man added.
“Nah, wasn’t me. I don’t know what the fuck y’all talking about,” Basil said, not caring if he cursed at the police.
“Are you sure about that?” the other officer asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Basil said as he crossed his arms.
“So you weren’t at his apartment yesterday?”
“Nope,” Basil responded.
“Listen, you can tell us if you saw something. We are here to help you, not hurt you,” one of the officers said as he kneeled down to get eye level with Basil.
“Like I said, I didn’t see anything. Nephew was my big homie. He used to give me lunch money, so I went over sometimes. I don’t have anything else to tell you,” Basil said as he looked over at his mother, who wore a slight grin. “Can I go to my room, Ma?” Basil asked.
“You sure can, baby. Officers, your five minutes is up,” Frenchie said as she limped over to her door and opened it. She stepped to the side to let them have a straight path out of her apartment. The officers headed out, obviously mad.
“We will be in contact,” Green said as he went past Frenchie. Before he could say anything else, Frenchie had slammed the door behind them. Where she and Basil were from, they hated the cops and it wasn’t a secret. Basil faded back into his room and took a deep breath. He knew that he couldn’t talk to the cops. Even though Nephew was his man … he couldn’t break the rules. Frenchie walked over to her son, looking him directly in the eye. She was trembling, but she had hidden it well in front of the police. It was as if she was releasing the anxiety now that they had left, and felt her true emotions coursing throughout her body; she was petrified. Any cooperation with the police was a no-go; there was a big disconnect between the people of the projects and law enforcement. The mere presence of the police sent chills throughout the toughest gangsters, but Frenchie couldn’t be prouder of her young son for standing up like a true man. She laid her head on his small chest and hugged him tightly as she rocked back and forth.
“You did good, baby. Never be Queen for a Day,” she said. The term was used for a snitch, and Basil had just shown he knew her meaning well.
In the following weeks, Kane was in the news, the local papers, and the talk of the town. He was being indicted for conducting a criminal enterprise, racketeering, and money laundering. The media were in a frenzy. Half were describing Kane as a drug kingpin who thumbed his nose at the law, and the other half called him a pillar of the community and an esteemed businessman. His local grocery stores helped him with his front. However, the streets knew the truth. Kane had consistently flooded Flint with cocaine for years.
The black market took a big hit when Kane was going through the trial. No one had any product. Dog was gone, Nephew was gone, and Kane was under the watchful eyes of the law. However, Basil slow-rolled the coke he’d found in Nephew’s apartment and became the go-to guy. He was coming into his own and eventually would take over the Regency projects. The coke he found in Nephew’s apartment lasted him all summer and he eventually found another connection by the name of Boone, on the north end of town. In three months’ time, Basil became a full-fledged hustler. He was the youngest in charge of the market and was gaining respect.
While Basil was emerging, Kane was fighting his case in court and eventually beat everything except the money laundering charge, which resulted in a tax evasion charge. The money he had acquired did not add up to his bank account, so he had to pay. Seven years, to be exact.