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Tangie couldn’t understand for the life of her, why her assistant was cutting her eyes like she was, with her lips poked out. Of, course, it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been running back and forth to Walterboro for almost a month now. Or the fact that every time she left or returned Tangie would say: “Missy, please look over this case for me...girlfriend.”
Yeah, the girlfriend thing was what did it. Missy didn’t mind looking over cases since she was going to Law school anyway. So, it was good hands-on training, all Tangie had to do was show her ass up in court. But Missy was starting to feel like she was blindly helping out. Then there was just plain old getting used and Missy now knew she was getting played.
Tangie shuffled through some papers on her desk and said, “Missy...I thought I told you to find me the Davis case out in Edisto...”
That was the last straw that almost always broke the Camel’s back. No one ever knew what it looked like, but it always sounded like this.
“Fuck that, Tangie! I ain’t you goddamned slave and shit. Find it for yourself!”
Tangie’s eyebrows crashed together like a bad car accident on her forehead. She needed to vent too, so she said fuck it. “Hell, I might as well, but damn, I thought I had an assistant to do this shit for me. Look, if you don’t wanna work here...shit can be arranged.”
“Arranged...arranged, oh hell no!” Missy dropped some papers to the floor and stomped over to her desk with both hands pounding down and said, “You don’t think I know that. Hell, any Lawyer worth their salt would jump on me in a fuckin’ heartbeat. Hell, Tangie, I damn near been handling your caseloads for a minute. And I will say, my goddamned approval rating is off the fuckin’ hizzy. So, if you want to run around handling shit you ain’t got a fuckin’ clue on or no goddamned control over...Miss control freak...then fuck it. Yeah, fuck it...cut me loose and I’ll be working for the same goddamned Prosecutor bringing your ass up on Misconduct and Ethics charges. I tell you what, I bet you, I’ll have the paperwork then. You got that?”
Tangie looked up at her and her mouth started to quiver. Then tears flooded her eyes and just like that, she hung her head and cried like a baby. “I’m s...s...sorry...Missy! I’m s...s...sorry...”
“Damn!” Missy said, sucking her teeth.
She felt for her, after all, they were friends. It was Tangie who suggested she go to Law school anyway and it was Tangie who’d brought her on as her assistant, giving her free rein over the office. It was Tangie who helped her out with bills and groceries when times were hard on the boulevard. Tangie had even put her husband in rehab, bought her twins presents for Christmases and Birthdays. It was Tangie...and now she needed Missy’s help.
Missy walked around the desk and hugged Tangie. “C’mon now, girl...I’m sorry, too! Don’t cry, we’ll work this out...like we always do.”
Tangie looked up at her. “I just want to find my brother. He’s all I got, Missy. I know he’s in trouble, and I ain’t never been there for him. I’m sorry!” She lowered her head. “If you want to go...I understand...”
Missy reached into her desk and pulled out some napkins, then wiped Tangie’s reddened, wet face. “Girl...I ain’t going nowhere. You hear me? We gonna find your old big-headed brother, and when we do...I’ma kick his ass!”
Tangie smiled and said, “Maybe, I should just let it go...”
“Let it go...let it go!” Missy stood up. “You better not let it go. Not after all we’ve been through together. You ain’t never said let it go when it came to me.” She stomped in front of the desk and snatched up the papers she’d dropped, then stormed toward the door, opened it, and looked back over her shoulder. “And I won’t let it go...when it comes to you, either.” She turned, facing her, and balanced the papers in her arm. “Look...I got those files somewhere on my desk. I’ll get them in a minute, we’ll go over them and see what we working with.”
Tangie smiled, she always knew Missy was a good friend, but never knew on what level. She would have been there for her anyway, she was loyal like that. But Missy proved one thing to her...best fuckin’ friend forever...BFF, and another fuckin’ F.
‘Now ain’t that some shit?’ she thought as she answered back. “Okay!”
Missy closed the door partially, then swung it back open. “Girl, clean up, that fine ass Sheriff from Walterboro is out here waiting on you.” Tangie got up and started racing around, this caused Missy to smile. “Your makeup kit is in the top drawer...left-hand side. A fresh blouse is hanging up in the closet toward the back and of course, the toothpaste and lipstick is in the bathroom. Damn, girl...what the hell would you do without me?” Missy laughed and closed the door.
Tangie looked at her as she walked off, talking to herself more than likely saying some shit about her and smiled. “Don’t know...really don’t know!” she replied then started rushing around in the order Missy had told her, cleaning herself up.
The Sheriff from Walterboro flipped through the scanner in his car as he waited for Tangie to come downstairs. What started out as give me a couple minutes, I’ll meet you downstairs, ended up being a half hour. Tangie had decided to damn near get a full makeover as far as he was concerned. He personally came to Charleston to pick her up and she had the nerve to take her time like he didn’t have nothing to do.
‘She’s always been like that,’ he thought, even when they were in college together.
He had the nerve to try and date her, but he was much too clumsy of a young man for her. She liked the athletic, jock, brutish types, but never the less, they still became close friends. Tangie always asked him why he never went into the practice of law instead of public service, he was smart like that and real quick. He would always explain that policing was just another aspect of the law. Amidst heavy debates, she agreed and even respected his decision. He definitely was no dim light at all, he graduated with a GPA of 4.5 easy. He was damn near at the top of his class. He made different choices with his life after graduating and getting married early and having kids was a choice, he’d made that Tangie didn’t.
He really didn’t mind at first, entertaining her thoughts of finding Jabari, but now, it was damn near becoming work. Interrupting the heavy caseload he had also, but she was his friend and he too, was loyal. He tapped on the steering wheel impatiently as she finally scampered out of the door to the car. He leaned over and opened it, feeling like spazzing out, but the wait was well worth it. She was fine...a dime piece and if he wasn’t happily married with two beautiful daughters, he definitely would have made a move on her, a long time back when she’d first came to town.
“Damn, girl...what took you so long?” He asked like he didn’t already know.
Tangie smiled apologetically. “You know...girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff?” he repeated.
“C’mon now, Bobby. You got three women in your household...don’t act like you don’t know.”
“But damn, Tangie! I came all the way here on a flam. I, the goddamned Sheriff, transported a prisoner here just so I could pick you up. Hell, that’s why I got deputies. You know how that looks or how it will look when I get back?”
Tangie leaned towards him and stroked the side of his arm. “C’mon now, Denita ain’t having none of that foolishness.”
He frowned and poked out his lips. “Yeah, but even she thinks that you might be pushing it a little.”
“Maybe...” Tangie leaned back. “Okay, this one last week and it’ll be over.”
He snickered. “Yeah, you said that three weeks ago.” He put the car in gear and headed to Highway 17 towards Walterboro. Halfway there, after a little silence and small talk ‘bout his girls, he said, “Look, Tangie, if your brother is in Walterboro and he’s mixed up in anything illegal. I got to do my job...and you too.”
“Yeah...I know, but at least I might be able to get him some help.”
“Sometimes a man don’t want no help. Then what?”
“Bobby, I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there.”
They pulled into a gas station a little way out of town and she started stretching her eyes again, looking for any signs or clues of her brother. She stared at people, watching them.
The Sheriff came out and pulled her to the side. “You’re making people uncomfortable,” he whispered. “And they’re complaining. C’mon now I got my people out looking.”
She blushed. “I’m sorry, but I saw him that day, right here. Just thought maybe I’d get lucky, that’s all.”
He opened the door to the car, and she hopped back in.
“Good police work requires no luck,” he commented.
She smiled. ‘Yeah, that’s something, Bobby would say,’ she thought. ‘Always on that Mister Goddamned Cop shit.’
They pulled off again and he suggested maybe they should cruise downtown on Main Street.
Tangie nodded in agreement. “When we finish, I need to get a room also. You can just drop me off.”
Bobby laughed. “Oh, yeah, those rumors. My wife loves it, she goes to church, and they tell her that the Sheriff was seen dropping a woman off at a hotel. Then she plays along with it, you just wait until I see him...yeah, she loves that shit!”
Tangie laughed. “Tell Denita I’m sorry. Promise I won’t hold you forever.”
“No...you can tell her yourself. She invited you over or dinner...again.”
Tangie playfully punched his arm. “Oh, so you don’t want me over. Wait till I tell, Nita.”
“Please don’t do that...I got enough problems.”
They shared the laugh as Bobby cruised downtown, mostly near drugstores in hopes of spotting, Jabari.
****
Jabari’s mind wasn’t there today, anxiety had him damn near ready to cut and run. Why? He didn’t have the slightest idea. It was weird like that, ever since he’d spoken to Dondi. That was all he could think about...hauling ass. It seemed like he was about to move on to bigger and better things. He had at least five gees saved up and he was ready. For what...he didn’t have a clue!
“Maybe I might or we...me and Dondi might catch a bus out to Cali somewhere. Or slow drive and get to know each other like that.” Jabari said to himself.
The more he thought about her, the better it all seemed to look, but every now and then the reality of it all popped into his mind. He was nothing but an orphaned, dopefiend and she was no better, she was a two-bit hooker. Where could they go? Who would want to be around them? Oh yeah, those questioned danced in his head regularly. But he never shared them with anyone.
“Naw, fuck that!” he said.
He went on a couple of websites and checked out a few places, far away, across seas, with a lot of white people dreaming. They seemed to be more understanding.
“I guess that’s why I sort of clicked with Double D and them.”
They realized one thing about themselves, they were, what they were and they didn’t blame no one for it. Jabari had a little while to go to get to that level. He figured maybe this Dondi thing might his second chance. Hell, even if they didn’t make it as a couple, they’d still have a chance to live out their lives a whole lot more comfortable than they were before. Or at least afford better dope. He knew one thing for sure, Rip would’ve been damn proud of him for getting his shit together.
“Damn, I miss that dude.”
Jabari glanced over at Smoak, still in conversation, talking to him. Normally, Jabari would’ve been right there listening since Smoak usually had some good shit on his mind. He gave him a hands-on of the business, at least the business of making meth and one damn thing he always fucked with Jabari about, was the one thing he wasn’t doing now...listening. Jabari looked back at him, he didn’t miss a beat, he was steady running his mouth.
“...you can also grow ice using gun blue lithium strips and red devil lye...but, either way, you make it...you got to clean it when you done making it with ether. You got that, Bari?”
Jabari was lost. Normally, he’d have him repeat it, but he wasn’t gonna use this shit once he got away from there anyway. Hell, with his luck...he’d blow his ass up.
“Yeah sure man, I got it!” Jabari replied.
There were many times when Jabari paid attention to Smoak because Smoak knew his shit that was a fact and in this ,game, you had to. They were already in the Hydrogen-Sudafed mix-stage and was starting to smoke it like a ham, to get it good and crystalized. The gas tank was wide open and all of a sudden, Jabari felt his pants vibrating.
“Damn cellphone!” he griped. He had to hurry up and cut it off.
Hell, with all the vapor that was in the air, and with the gas wide open, any sudden spark would blow their asses sky fuckin’ high. He back off slowly, looking toward the door. He figured he could step out real quick and fast and catch the call.
“It might be, Dondi.” He back up slowly.
Smoak was still running his mouth. “...anhydras is the name of the gas we using, Bari. You see, you get the ‘fedren out of it...along with the Sudafed...that’s where the speed comes from...”
Jabari made a move and opened the door a little bit, and a slight breeze blew through. It had just rained, and dew was still on the ground. The moisture, that’s what caught Smoak’s attention and he turned Jabari’s way with his face twisted.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Smoak yelled.
“What...”
“Close the fuckin’ door! Don’t you know that moisture in here will fuck around and blow this whole fuckin’ area like a goddamned space shuttle? I told your ass that shit!”
Jabari eased back in, Smoak’s hands were in the tub crystalizing the ice and he could see the hairs on his arm literally burnt. Jabari rushed toward him.
“No...no stay there!” Smoak looked at the gas. “Ease over there and...oh hell no! What is that? A fuckin’ cell phone...are you tryin’ to kill us!”
Jabari was had, Smoak was spazzing on him. Jabari really couldn’t blame him. He was already up, cutting the gas off and mumbling something under his breath about Jason kicking both of their asses...if not killing them. They’d fucked up a batch...costing fifty grand easy that was invested to make at least close to a quarter mil. That was a lot of money.
Smoak looked his way disgusted. “Just get out quick with that damn phone. I got this!”
Jabari slid out of the door quickly and all he heard was Smoak cussing his ass out. He was in for it, it was one thing to help out and shit, but it was another to break rules and fuck up money...that was huge. He knew he’d fucked up big time. He peered over at the ATV and figured he’d just get his money and dip. He looked at the numbers on his phone and sure enough, it was, Dondi. It was about a half hour or so past the time he’d given her to call him. He hopped in the ATV and headed toward the house.
Smoak busted out of the door. “Wait up!” he yelled.
Jabari hauled ass, once he got to the trailer, he ran in the back and snatched up his clothes. They were all bundled up in a duffel bag along with his cash. Double D was on his way out of the barn.
“Damn, I’ma have to kick his ass,” Jabari said to himself.
“Yo...Bari...wait up,” Double D said.
“Fuck it he probably knew already. Hell, man up, Bari...least hear him out.” Jabari told himself.
“Yo’ if you going to town. Pick up a case for me, okay. Got some people coming in, ya know.”
Double D didn’t have a clue. Smoak didn’t call him, for some reason, he didn’t call.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have left him back there,” Jabari said. “Okay...I’ll be back soon, we got to talk anyway.”
“Okay, cool...you a’ight, where’s Smoak?”
“He’ll be here.”
Double D started to turn and go back to the barn and said, “Going to pick up that chick? He looked down at Jabari’s bag.
“Yeah!”
“Cool, see you when you get back then. My keys are underneath the floorboard.”
“A’ight.”
Jabari got in the truck and peeled out up the road watching Double D as he headed back into the barn.
‘Damn,’ Jabari thought. ‘Once Smoak gets here and tell Jason what happened, he’s gonna wanna kick my ass.’
Jabari couldn’t worry about that, right now. It was getting later, so he dialed Dondi’s number.
****
The Sheriff was on is A game, establishing his presence. He did everything but kiss babies. Walterboro was growing fast, not the small hick town from years-gone-by. I-95 went straight through and it was fast becoming a haven for layovers, truckers, and even tourists. The Sheriff knew that, and he also knew that elections were not too far around the corner. Keep the business happy, the people safe and the money flowing...not necessarily in that order, but the biggest problem he had was drugs. He used a third of his staff on a task force for the gangs that pushed the dope, then another for task forces for burglaries and robberies as a result of drug usage, and the rest for patrolling what got him elected in the first place, the people’s safety, from the drug users. It was a lot, granted, but he was quite the politician and he winged it well.
It was getting close to the time for Tangie to check into a hotel. Still early in the day, but if she caught the eleven o’clock check out hour. She could get a pretty good rate. She seemed more interested in the traffic that flowed in and around the street, trying to catch a bead on her brother, than she was a room. It wasn’t a good hot minute when they finally received the call she’d been looking for.
“Sheriff!” The radio was scratchy, but he adjusted the frequency and it cleared up a bit. “Hey, uh, I got something you might be interested in.”
“Bring it on.” It was Randy; one of his task force lieutenants that worked undercover in the field. “I spotted a truck, that burgundy one you told us about. Souped up with the big rims and shit.”
“Yeah, been trying to get up with that. The driver...is it...”
“Naw, man! Strange though...some black dude is driving like a bat outta hell...reckless. Think I should stop him.”
“Well, hmm...might be stolen. Follow him...but not too close so he’ll spot you. Maybe he could lead us to...”
Tangie butted in. “Brown-skinned, wavy hair...like a white boy!”
“Think so...yep, that’s him. You know him?” Randy asked.
She looked at the Sheriff wide-eyed and said, “That’s him...that’s Jabari!”
“Okay, Randy...good work. Keep an eye on him, I got to drop off someone and call for back up, ya hear.”
“Ten-Four...out.”
Tangie looked at him and said, “Oh, hell, no. You’re not dropping me off. I’m going with you!”
“Damn, Tangie, you can’t! Suppose something...”
She grabbed at the steering wheel, making him pull over. “Look, that’s my brother. I want to be there. If something goes down, I might be able to talk to him...help out.” The Sheriff frowned his face and she continued. “C’mon now, I’ve been trained too. I know how to get out of the way...please!”
He banged the dash and said, “Okay...but be careful, ya hear? If it gets ugly, stay out the way. Don’t need no goddamned headaches!”
She nodded her head. He called for back up and called back Randy. Who’d told him the truck was headed toward I-95.
****
Dondi didn’t say a word as he sped down Highway 17 doing eighty-five easy. Dondi had just called him about twenty minutes earlier. Luckily, he was in the process of checking his voicemail when he got the call, or it would have been well into the day before he got it. Cleo was crashed out, but she was in the process of waking up when he left out. He’d told her earlier he was leaving out of town, but he wasn’t quite sure when. He packed a small overnight bag just in case things drug out longer than expected.
He packed a couple grand, a change of underwear, clothes and another .40 Caliber gun with three clips in case shit got ugly. Cleo didn’t ask any questions and he wasn’t giving up any answers anyway. He left her with a couple of dollars and a credit card, just in case she needed to handle any business or just go shopping to kill time and she gladly accepted.
He felt awkward kissing her as he left out. Made it seem like they were a couple and after all, to him it was really just a business arrangement. So, now, here he was on his way to Walterboro to either do one of two things. Kill Jabari to keep from being a snitch and telling the cops what went down that night. Or, get the money from Jabari that they was supposed to have gotten that night. Either way, the first thing seemed a lot more feasible. He’d already heard a little something-something from his snitches about that chick Nikki getting out of the fire. How she did? He didn’t have the slightest clue, but he knew he was slippin’. He’d also heard she might have had the money, but he never got around to calling his main snitch, Wood, to find out.
If that was the case and she was being protected by that muthafucka Dirty-Red like he’d heard, then it would have to be an all-out war getting his hands on her. Dirty-Red didn’t play no games, and Hulie couldn’t go at him just any kind of way. But before he could even think on that level, he had to handle this Jabari business once and for all.
Dondi, on the other hand, didn’t know what to think. She thought they were going to pick up some money, then she’d be on the way back to Charleston to move in with him. At least that was what his mouth had said. She had a hunch though, something wasn’t right. It all seemed too smooth, and one thing she knew from dope boys, smooth wasn’t always good. But she still had Jabari to fall back on. Maybe, he did have some money and they were going to haul ass somewhere. The more she thought about things the better that plan sounded, but right now, she had to play her role in this whole mess she was already in. She glanced at Hulie after about twenty-miles of straight silence.
“Baby...you know where you going?” she asked.
Hulie looked at her like she was fuckin’ crazy. He couldn’t believe that shit. Here it was, she was the one who’d called his ass up, packed a bag, hopped in the car with him, and didn’t say shit for damn near thirty minutes. When she did it was to ask if he knew where he was going.
“This is truly a dumb bitch!” Hulie mumbled under his breath. “And to think she wants to be my main squeeze.” He almost spoke out loud, he had to get her ass out on the track quick...with her stupid ass.
“There it is...I-ninety-five,” she said pointing toward a turn-off.
He looked over to his right and she was right. In the distant, a sign off the side read: Off-Ramp, caught his eye. Only a couple more miles to go now. “Okay, exactly...where did he say to meet you at?”
“Over by a store...gas station...BP. Going away from town!”
Hulie slowed down once he got to the highway. “Okay...over there? I see it!”
Dondi nodded her head, and Hulie pulled into a cut, out of view and stopped. “Okay, this is where you get out.”
“Get out! I thought you said...”
“C’mon now...remember the plan. If he sees me, then he might dip, and we won’t know where the stash is,” Hulie explained.
“He might have it with him,” Dondi replied matter of factly.
The whole thing about Jabari having a stash of money seemed far fetched and she really wasn’t buying into that bullshit at all.
Hulie frowned, he was losing her quick, he had to turn it up a bit. “Picture that.” He moved over and stroked her face, then kissed her. “C’mon, girl, remember what we talked about. If you keep wasting time, we’ll never get back to Charleston so you can move in.”
Dondi’s smile was twisted and forced. “Yeah...sure!” She opened the door and started to get out. She thought about it, then reached back in and grabbed her bags.
“Why you grabbing all your bags?” Hulie asked.
“Like you said, don’t want him to get suspicious, right...baby?”
“Oh yeah...now you thinkin’.”
Dondi grabbed her bags and dragged them off to the side of the road. Hulie didn’t lift a finger to help, then started walking down the road toward the store. Halfway there she spotted Jabari standing on the side of a bright burgundy truck. She looked back and Hulie was gone, nowhere to be seen. All that did was confirm that he was on some old bullshit, but still, she wasn’t sure of what quite yet.
“For once stick to the plan, Dondi,” she coached herself. “At least see where this is headed.”
****
There she was, she looked good, better than the last time he’d seen her. She looked like she’d gained weight, got her hair done and had even got around to getting her teeth fixed. Or she was wearing dentures, either way, she looked good.
“Okay, she spotted me. Damn, I don’t see...why the hell is she walking? Let me see what’s up.” Jabari said to himself as she approached.
“Hey, baby...what’s happening?” Dondi said from behind him.
Jabari spun around and looked her up and down, then hugged her. Her grip was tight around his neck and as she looked in his eyes, she seemed like she was sad. He could tell from dealing with her, even when she was with Rip, he always knew when something was up.
“What’s going on, baby?” Jabari asked.
“My bags...they’re on the other side of the highway,” Dondi sais, then looked off avoiding eye contact.
“We’ll get them. What happened...did that dude you told me about kick you out or something?”
“Yeah, basically...told me to find you best way I could,” Dondi lied.
“Damn...sorry, ‘bout that baby. Hell, I thought he was going to drop you off.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
They hopped in the truck and Jabari drove to the other side of the overpass and sure enough, three bags were on the side of the road. He got out and put them in the truck, then looked around, he felt like he was being watched, he shook it off and got back in.
“I’m probably just being paranoid,” he told himself. Dondi was all smiles. “So, how you been, girl?”
“Been alright.”
“You look good as hell.”
“Thank you!” Dondi smiled.
Jabari rode through town, picking up the case Double D had asked for and was turning on Highway 17 heading out of town.
“So...what did you want to about, Jabari?” Dondi asked.
Jabari wasn’t expecting her to just jump the gun that quick. But oh well there no time like the present. “Look, Dondi, I got a few dollars saved up and all and I figured we could go out of town and get a fresh start somewhere.” Jabari kept it real with her.
“Fresh start...me and you!” Dondi was shocked.
“Yeah, me and you. What’s wrong with that? What I ain’t good enough for you...” Jabari was starting to spaz out.
“No...” Dondi grabbed his hand softly. “It’s not that...am I good enough for you?”
“What you talkin’ ‘bout, Dondi?”
“C’mon now, Jabari. I ain’t nothin’ but a hoe...admit it...straight up.”
“Naw...you’ve changed...right?”
Dondi looked off out of the window and said, “I make meetings, I got a little time under my belt, but still...”
“Look, Dondi, I ain’t no better. At least we can try, and...if it don’t work out. Hell, you’ll still be clean...” Jabari fumbled with his words trying to find the right ones to say and couldn’t. “...and I’ll still be...”
“Jabari...sweet old...Jabari.” She smiled then snickered making him feel a whole hell of a lot better. “Well...so far...sounds good.”
“So, far, huh?”
****
“Did he see us?” Tangie asked as she peered her head up from behind the dash.
The Sheriff was slumped down right next to her behind the wheel. “Naw...don’t think so.”
“I can’t believe Dondi would lie to me! She told me she didn’t know where he was!”
The Sheriff got on his radio and told his Deputies he’d spotted the truck and was following closely behind it. “So, you know the girl?”
“Something like that.”
“And...”
“She was a person of interest...in a double murder...”
“What!” Bobby was shocked. “And you didn’t say this before, because of what?”
“She was involved, Bobby. I had spoken to her already, hell, that D.A. bitch Sunshine tried to damn near kill her.”
The Sheriff pulled the car over and turned toward her. “Hold up...anything else you want to tell me?”
“No...you know everything. I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you about her, but she’s the last person I would have expected to see. Anyway, why don’t we just stop him...”
“No, he’s gonna lead us to the owner of the vehicle.”
“Who?”
“They call him, Double D.”
“Yeah...I spoke to his mother...”
“Damn, Tangie...really! Anything else...really!”
Tangie kept her mouth shut, even though, she was tempted to tell him that everything he knew, she knew, and it only took a week or so to get it. His office needed an upgrade bad and she made a mental note to thank Missy for hers when she got back, but right now, she tried to stay focused and composed.
“So...what happens when he gets where he’s going? Do you know where he’s going or what?”
The Sheriff glanced over at her and said, “Hopefully...he’s taking us to a meth lab.”
“A meth lab!”
“You said you wanted to ride.”
“Oh God...please, Jabari...don’t be involved.”
“Yeah...for his sake.”
The Sheriff continued to follow close behind Jabari, at least three cars behind, not realizing at all that the car in front of his was Hulie’s.
“What the hell...” Was all the Sheriff could get out of his mouth.
The shit happened so quick, the truck turned abruptly and sharply down a dirt road off to the left. He was right behind it, he noticed underneath the tops of the trees was burnt, brownish, and dead looking, and this crazy smelling odor came from the area like bed socks in the heat of the sun and stunk like all hell. He knew from his training and experience, that it was a trail leading to a meth-making operation. Why didn’t he spot it from the air when SLED came through with the Helo? He didn’t know, but when he looked toward the back end of the road and the sides around him, all he saw were acres of top, heavy oak trees, camouflaging everything in sight.
“Damn good cover,” He said to himself. “No wonder we never knew where to find it.”
The car in front of him turned also, and that’s what threw him off. What the hell was going on now? He followed this same car from town, maybe, it was a set-up. He stopped at the front-end of the road and got on his radio. In between crackling, scratching sounds and bad frequency, the only audible words that got through were: “This is the Sheriff...halfway up Highway 17...gonna need back up...and a lot of it...”
Tangie stared at the truck trying to keep an eye on Jabari as it rambled down the winding dirt road, then suddenly, it screeched to a halt. Halfway up the road, the car in front of them stopped too. The Sheriff reached in the back for his shotgun and told Tangie to stay low. She did, but not before she got a peep into the car in front of them and had a clear view of the driver and recognized him.
“Oh shit! Where’d the fuck did he come from?” she asked.
“Who?” The Sheriff inquired.
“The car in front of us...the driver is bad news.”
“Shit...the whole damn thing is bad!”
“Naw...this guy is fucked up, trouble...from outta Charleston. His name is, Hulie.”
The Sheriff got back on the radio and started babbling off. “C’mon people...it’s about to get real ugly out here!” Evidently, he knew Hulie also.