Jade’s long braids spilled over the shoulders of her blue- and white-striped tee; she sat next to CeCe, a church friend. The school cafeteria buzzed, students everywhere.
Derrick Freeman made his approach with a self-aware swagger and planted himself across the table. “’Sup, Jade? Hey, why don’t you answer my calls?”
“After I canceled the get-together at Lisa’s, you were pretty mad, remember?”
“I forgive you. But you should answer my calls.”
“I told you I don’t answer my phone or text after ten now. And besides, I have an agreement with my dad. He has to approve of a boy before we spend much time together, even at school.”
Derrick almost made a comment about Jade’s father but refrained.
“Well, I been thinkin’ about you a lot lately, Jade.”
“Yeah?”
“As a matter of fact, I picked up somethin’ for ya.”
He pulled out a thin gold bracelet and draped it over his fingers. “Looks real, don’t it?”
“Where’d you get that from?”
“My cousin gave it to me. Now I’m givin’ it to you.”
He assumed she would fawn over it. He’d seen what the girls did when TJ iced them out with the bling.
“I can’t take it.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re friends, Derrick. That’s all.”
Derrick stared at her, then pulled the bracelet back. “Well, you’re the one missin’ out.”
Jade raised an eyebrow.
“Hey!” Derrick noticed her left hand. “Where’d you get the ring?”
“My daddy gave it to me.” She glanced at CeCe and smiled as she looked back at Derrick. “Looks real, don’t it?”
Derrick lifted the bracelet, glittering under the cafeteria lights. Several girls saw it and stared. “You sure you don’t want this?”
“I’m sure.” She fingered her ring.
Derrick’s phone vibrated. He looked down at a text: C U in 2.
“My ride’s here,” Derrick said, standing. “Gotta go.”
“You leaving early?” Jade asked.
“Personal field trip. Later.”
Derrick strutted off, thinking he might shop a little more to find the fortunate girl who would receive the ’jacked bracelet. Jade didn’t know what she was missing. She’d be sorry.
Chapter Forty-four
Derrick walked out the high school’s front door. While he tried to look like he didn’t care who watched, he scoped out the spectators, wanting them to see the righteous dudes who picked him up.
Derrick got in the back of TJ’s tricked-out dark-green Cadillac DeVille. Antoine rode shotgun.
“Wassup, D?” Antoine asked.
“Hey, little bro,” TJ said. “We just picked up the mother lode. We gotta get it to the house and meet Tyrone. We got some serious weight here.”
“How much?” Derrick asked.
“Forty stacks, dawg!”
“Forty stacks? TJ, that’s crazy, man!”
“We ain’t playin’ Little League, D. We goin’ prime-time. This is more benjamins than you can count, math whiz. Dawg, I got two keys in the trunk.”
“Two kilos?”
“That’s right. All we gotta do is cook it up.”
“That’s four hundred benjamins.”
“Cash money. You help me get this done and you gonna be ridin’ phat for a while.”
Derrick smiled. Ridin’ phat. Maybe he’d buy Jade a diamond bracelet. That would change her tune. He imagined her in the backseat of a car with him, proudly wearin’ her bling. And if not Jade, then Lisa or Doniece. He smiled wider. Life was gettin’ good.
At that moment, Nathan and David drove the outskirts of Albany.
David, a look of terror in his eyes, said, “I’ll stand up there with you guys, but public speaking’s my biggest fear. Dying is second.”
“Javier won’t do it either. He wants to be there; we all do. But the Resolution was Adam’s idea. He should speak.”
Nathan answered his cell phone. “Adam. Hey, we were just talking about you.”
“Where are you guys?”
“We’re comin’ up on Denson.”
“I’m three miles behind you. Listen, we need to talk about this Father’s Day deal. Can you guys come over sometime this week?”
“We already talked about it. We decided that since you came up with the Resolution, you’re gonna be the spokesman.”
“That’s only fair,” David called.
“No, no, no. We didn’t agree to that. We gotta vote.”
“We already voted. David and I chose you, and you know Javy will side with us.”
“Man, standing in front of a whole church? Look, if I do this, you guys owe me dinner. At Campbell’s Steakhouse with all the gals, including Amanda. Tell her they have lots of salads!”
“You’re on, man! I’ll cover David and Amanda.” Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll talk about this later. I’ve got a green Cadillac with a blown taillight.” He ended the call. “Hey, light ’em up for me, David.”
“Got it.” David flipped on the blues.
TJ saw the lights in his rearview mirror. “Hold up! What this cop doin’? I ain’t even speedin’! We can’t do this, man.”
Antoine turned to TJ. “They bust us this time, that’s an automatic ten years.”
Derrick looked behind them to see the sheriff’s car. “Ten years? Whatchu gonna do, man?”
In the squad car, Nathan frowned. “What’s he doin’? He’d better pull over soon or I’ll get him for more than a busted light. Go ahead and call it in.”
David reached for his radio to inform dispatch of the situation.
TJ set his jaw. “I’ll take him out before I go back to jail.” He reached between the front seats and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun.
Derrick stared at the shotgun. “Take him out? You gonna shoot him?”
TJ whipped his head around toward Derrick. “Look, you wanna go to prison? Huh? ’Cuz if he searches this car, that’s where you goin’.
“I got my three pieces under the seat,” TJ said to Antoine. “The deuce-five auto’s right under you. Trey-five-seven under me, and the revolver’s here.” He patted the seat by his right leg. “Grab what you want, solja.”
Antoine reached under the seat.
“You got that nine I gave you?” TJ asked Derrick.
“No way, man. I came from school!”
TJ finally pulled over but kept the engine running.
Nathan stopped ten feet behind him and took out his ticket book before he and David exited the car.
Ahead of them, inside the Cadillac, Derrick said, “Wait, man, I can’t do this. Can’t shoot no cop!”
“We ain’t got no choice, D! Be cool. I’ll get rid of him; then we’ll make the drop and ditch the car.”
Derrick, sweating profusely, turned to see Nathan and David get out. “There’s two of ’em, TJ! You can’t shoot both!”
“Shut up, man! You do what I tell you.”
TJ looked in his side mirror and saw Nathan lift his sunglasses as he noted the license number.
“Oh, man, I know this cop. He’s ’bout to get what he got comin’ to him.” He eased the shotgun into his lap and chambered a round.
Derrick saw who it was. “TJ, that’s Jade’s daddy!”
TJ put his right index finger on the shotgun’s trigger.
David had a bad feeling. He and Nathan still stood behind the car. “He hasn’t turned off the engine,” David said. “You want me to take this one?”
Nathan shook his head and walked toward the driver’s side door but stopped a few feet short. “Sir, I need you to turn off the vehicle and place your hands on the wheel.”
TJ left the shotgun on his lap, out of Nathan’s view. He switched off the engine and placed his hands on the steering wheel.
Nathan walked up to the window. “I pulled you over because—”
TJ grabbed the gun and raised it in a fl
ash.
The instant before TJ fired, Derrick got both hands on TJ’s right bicep and pulled back with all his strength. Then came the deafening blast.
“Nathan!” David screamed as his partner fell backward into the road directly in front of an oncoming pickup.
The driver punched the brakes. The truck skidded toward the deputy’s head. Nathan lay motionless, curled into a ball.
David, the explosive shot still in his ears, thought Nathan had been hit. But he drew his .40-caliber Glock 23 and trained it on the back of the Caddy.
“Go, go, go!” Antoine yelled as TJ hit the ignition and gunned the engine.
TJ yelled back at Derrick, “I’m gonna lock up with you, tiny!”
Nathan grimaced as he lay on his side. He felt a numbing pain in his left bicep.
At that moment David found his range and fired a round through the Caddy’s back window. David let loose six more rounds in succession, four of which hit the car.
“No!” Derrick shouted, covering his face and pressing himself down on the seat.
Glass fragments covered Derrick’s prone body.
Nathan sat up and fired three rounds, one of which hit TJ in the left shoulder. TJ screamed, and the car turned sharply to the right, veered into a shallow ditch, and hit a fence.
“Back up, back up!” Antoine yelled, his side of the car now exposed to David and Nathan. TJ gunned it. Gravel and dirt sprayed everywhere, but the car didn’t budge. Antoine extended his right hand and fired off three shots from his nine, all of which pierced the windshield of the truck. The driver ducked just in time.
Nathan shouted at the driver, “Stay down, sir! Stay down!”
Realizing their car was bottomed out, Antoine yelled, “We can’t stay here; we gotta move! Get out! Get out!”
TJ opened his door and fell to the ground while Derrick did the same. Antoine continued to fire from the passenger seat.
Two other cars pulled up behind the pickup truck, then hit reverse as they heard shots.
David grabbed his radio off his left shoulder. “This is 693d. Shots fired, Denson Road! Backup, repeat, we need backup!”
Adam was less than a mile away when he heard the message. “693c in route!”
Antoine launched himself out the driver’s door and fired from the car’s far side.
TJ was on top of Derrick, right hand on his face with a vise grip.
“Whatchu think you doin’, man? You crazy? You tryin’ to save a cop? You ain’t nothin’. I should kill you myself!”
He grabbed the shotgun, stood, and opened fire on the cops. The shotgun’s backlash against his injured shoulder caused him to recoil and cry out in agony. A barrage came back at him. As he stooped, he pounded the car door with his elbow and shrieked with pain and frustration.
Two more cars came down the road from behind the cops. Nathan waved and yelled, “Stay back, stay back!”
David pulled a fresh clip from his belt and reloaded. He heard a siren blaring from behind him and took a deep breath. “Adam’s coming, Nathan!”
Adam barreled ahead at high speed, finally spotting Nathan and David crouched behind the vehicles and firing toward the Caddy. He floored the pedal, swerved around the truck, braked, and spun the car sideways to provide more protection between the gangsters and the officers.
As Adam ducked and crawled out the passenger side door, TJ and Antoine fired several rounds into the side of his car, which now blocked TJ’s view of David and Nathan. Glass shattered as the squad car was hit by the shotgun blast.
Nathan apprised him as they crouched on the ground behind the car. “Three guys, one has a shotgun, a 9mm. I’m almost out of ammo.”
“Antoine!” TJ held his shoulder and winced. “Come here, man. You gotta shoot this for me!”
“We gotta go! Give it to me.” Big Antoine grabbed the shotgun while TJ pushed Derrick down to the front of the car. “Get out of our way!”
The gangsters looked for an escape, but a fence ran down the road on the right side, an open field beyond it. The land was all flat and open on the left until it came to a house where a young black girl, maybe nine years old, watched, three hundred feet away.
Antoine shot his last two shells.
Adam heard an explosion of glass and metal overhead. Mirror and metal flew through the air like skeet.
TJ pointed down the road. “’Toine. The girl! We need leverage. Let’s go!”
Antoine cried, “I’m out; I’m out,” dropped the shotgun, and ran after TJ toward the girl and the house.
Adam yelled, “I got ’em,” then saw the girl and realized he couldn’t fire.
“Goin’ after that girl. Stay with me!” Adam yelled.
“With you,” Nathan said.
David ran alongside them.
“Front of the car, front of the car,” Adam called.
Derrick screamed as they rounded the side of TJ’s car.
“Show me your hands,” the cops yelled, guns drawn. Derrick waved his hands frantically.
David pointed toward the girl and the gangsters. “I’ve got him. Go!”
Adam and Nathan took off in pursuit of TJ and Antoine.
TJ chased the girl while Antoine hid behind a massive tree, waiting.
Adam ran beside Nathan, surprised at his own speed and endurance. He thought of Dylan, the only person he’d ever run alongside at this pace. Just as Nathan pulled in front of Adam, Antoine lunged and tackled Adam.
TJ pursued the girl, who climbed the wooden ladder of a tree house. TJ climbed behind her and grabbed her ankle. She screamed, paralyzed with fear. Nathan jumped up and grabbed TJ, pulling him down. The gangster fell to the ground, Nathan on top of him.
“Daddy! Daddy!” the girl screamed.
Adam fought with Antoine. He pulled his Glock, but Antoine knocked it out of his hand. Antoine exchanged punishing blows with Adam, each connecting to the other’s jaw.
TJ landed two pile-driver blows on Nathan’s cheek as he had several months ago when Nathan hung on to the steering wheel.
Nathan was nearly overcome when out of nowhere someone slammed into TJ, knocking him off Nathan. Then came screams of sirens and the screech of tires as more patrol cars pulled up. Two of the officers ran for Antoine, who was still pounding Adam’s face. They tackled him and finally handcuffed him.
Two other officers jumped TJ and subdued him. The girl’s father left the officers to finish TJ. He went to the base of the tree house and reached for the terrified girl, who lowered herself to the safety of her father’s arms.
Adam lay on the ground, face bruised and bloody. One of the officers came over. “You all right, Adam?”
“Get the girl. Help the girl!”
“She’s all right, man. She’s with her dad.”
Adam, head on the grass, caught sight of the girl, now secure in her father’s arms. He saw the look in her eyes and thought of Emily. And somehow, beaten half to death, he felt incredible relief, even happiness.
Ten minutes later, after TJ, Antoine, and Derrick were taken to separate patrol cars, Nathan walked gingerly over to Adam, who sat under a tree, still wiping blood from his face.
“You okay?”
“That dude was strong.”
He assessed Adam. “You’re lookin’ like I’m feelin’.”
“I’m feelin’ like I’m lookin’.”
Nathan extended his hand to Adam. “Thank God for backup. None of us could have done this alone.”
“Just be glad you fought the small guy.”
“The small guy?”
“What’s that on your arm?” Adam pointed to just below Nathan’s left sleeve, where a bloodstained bandage wrapped his upper arm.
“An object lesson.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how Jordan pesters me to wear a vest?”
“Yeah, I’ve mentioned it a few times myself.”
“Well, when my gangster buddy, who has now remodeled my face twice, let go with the sawed-off shotgun, I
thought I’d been hit. I was so close I could feel the force of all that shot exploding out of the barrel.”
“Yeah?”
“So a few minutes ago when all my pains registered, I felt this awful sting in my arm. And there, implanted in my skin, was a single piece of shot.”
“One?”
“One.” He pulled the little piece of metal out of his pocket. “It’s not a heavy gauge, but I’ll tell you my arm hurts like crazy. Had I been just a foot closer, I’d have gotten dozens of them at least. If he’d gotten off a straight shot, I would have taken maybe a hundred in the chest, point-blank.”
Adam cringed.
“So I figure God fired me a warning. True, the vest wouldn’t have protected my arm. But if I’d taken it in the chest, the vest would have saved my life. If I’d worn it. I’m going to tell Jordan he was right and I was wrong.”
Adam looked at Nathan. “Glad you’re okay.”
“Likewise.”
As Adam pulled his cell out and called Victoria, Nathan approached the patrol car where Derrick, handcuffed and bent forward, stared at the floor. Nathan opened the door and leaned down. Tears streamed down the young man’s face.
“Derrick, what are you doin’? Why were you with these guys?”
He shook his head like he wondered the same thing. “I ain’t got nobody, man. I just ain’t got nobody.”
Nathan remained silent but put his hand on Derrick’s shoulder.
Meanwhile Adam approached David, who leaned against his bullet-pierced patrol car.
“You did good today, David.”
“You mean, for a rookie, right?”
Adam shook his head and slapped David on the back. “You’re not a rookie.”
Chapter Forty-five
Hundreds of men, ages six to eighty-six, took their places on Third Avenue, one of Albany’s most beautiful streets. Lined with massive oak trees, sun and shade were dappled in the leaves of late spring; it was spectacular.
A big banner stretched across the street: First Annual Father & Son 5K.
Grandfathers and mentors were invited too. Ten minutes before the race, Adam stood between Dylan and Tyler.
Adam spoke softly. “Dylan, feel free to break loose. I’ll stay back with Tyler. We’d slow you down.”