The Candy Shop Page 10

  Teresa laughed. “You know your mother-in-law, huh?”

  “Like no other.”

  “So, whatcha doing tomorrow?”

  “Well, I need to fax out a few more resumes, so I can line a few jobs up. But, other than that, I’m free to do whatever.”

  “Wanna do me a favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Wanna lend me the money so I can get that abortion I scheduled for this weekend?”

  “Come on now, you know I am on a strict budget. And besides, you know you are not going to be able to pay me back.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “When?”

  “When I get a job.”

  “You’ve been hollering that same old line since the first time I lent you some money. And I haven’t seen you fill out one application yet.”

  “That’s because I can’t get up in the morning. This morning sickness be killing me. And anyway, if I don’t get it by this weekend, then I’m not gonna be able to get it at all.”

  “Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “All right! Fair enough,” Teresa replied and then we jumped into another conversation. But, our chat didn’t last long at all because of the unexpected guest that came knocking at her front door. So, she immediately told me to hold on while she went to see who it was. About twenty seconds later she came running back to the telephone.

  “Girl, let me call you back,” she told me abruptly.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked her. “And who is at your front door?”

  “It’s the police. So, let me call you back.”

  Now before I could go any further with this conversation, I realized Teresa had disconnected our call. So, there I was lying in my bed, with the receiver of the telephone cradled next to my ear, listening to dead air. And as bad as I wanted to call her back to see what was going on, I decided against it. I figured she would be back in touch with me as soon as the officers left.

  Waiting on Teresa to call me back never happened. So, after waiting for nearly forty minutes, I pressed the re-dial button and waited patiently for her to answer the phone. But strangely enough, she didn’t pick up. So, I hit the flash button and pressed the re-dial button once more. And again, she didn’t pick up. Now, I couldn’t help but wonder and begin to worry about why she wasn’t able to answer her telephone. Then it occurred to me that maybe Darren took out a warrant on her and the police were there to arrest her on charges of vandalism. And knowing this could be possible, I hopped out of bed, threw on a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers, grabbed my keys and my handbag, and headed out the front door. I really didn’t know whether to go by the police station first or her apartment. But, as I began to drive, my instinct told me to ride by her apartment first and that’s what I did.

  Now when I reached her apartment complex, I noticed a police car pulling away from her building. But, as the officers cruised by me, I couldn’t help but notice that their back seat was empty; which was a sigh of relief for me. But at the other end, my stomach was still battling an anxiety attack. So, I took a deep breath and proceeded on to her apartment. And when I approached her front door, it was somewhat ajar so I pushed it opened and said, “Teresa, where are you?”

  “I’m in the living room,” she replied, her voice barely audible.

  Instantly feeling a sense of relief throughout my entire body, I closed the front door and rushed into the living room. And when I finally came face to face with her, my whole mood shifted back into first gear.

  “What’s wrong?” I immediately asked as I took a seat on the sofa next to her.

  Looking like she had just taken yet another beat down, Teresa sat there with her eyes bloodshot red and her face saturated with falling tears, she opened up her mouth and said, “Eugene is dead!”

  Not knowing if I heard her correctly, I said, “What?”

  She wiped both of her eyes with the back of her hands and repeated herself. “Eugene is dead!”

  “How?” I asked, my voice screeching.

  “The police told me somebody shot him in his back two times. So, whoever he was running from was the one who killed him.”

  “Where did this happen?”

  “In Norfolk, out Grandy Park.”

  “You talking about that place where he usually hangs out at?”

  Teresa nodded her head.

  “Ahh man, that’s crazy!” I began to say. “So, how long ago did this happen?”

  Still sobbing, she said, “The police said it happened a little over an hour and a half ago, and that the homicide detectives are still at the scene, trying to get people to tell them exactly what happened.”

  “Tell me how did the police know you were related to him?”

  “Somebody out there had to have told them, since Eugene wasn’t the type to carry an ID card.”

  “Who do you think could’ve killed him?”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, it could be anybody because my brother was a fool! He didn’t give a damn about nobody. All he was concerned about was who he could jack for their shit! And it didn’t matter if he got the shit stomped out of him, because he would get right back up and find his next victim.”

  “Well, whoever it was damn sure made an example out of him.” I got up from the sofa to get some tissue paper from the bathroom in the hallway. And when I turned the corner to enter back into the living room, Teresa stood to her feet and said, “I’m going out there.”

  “Out where?” I asked her, even though I knew there could have only meant Grandy Park.

  “I wanna go out Grandy Park and see if I can find out exactly what happened to my brother,” she continued.

  “Are you sure that’s going to be a good idea?”

  “Faith, going out to Grandy Park would be the only thing that’ll keep me from going off the deep end right now. So, please take me.”

  “Okay. I’ll take you,” I said willingly and handed her the tissue paper.

  Teresa and I both remained quiet during the entire drive to Grandy Park. The drive itself took shorter than normal. It probably had something to do with the fact that there was little or no traffic at all. But at this point, it really would not have mattered one way or another. Our main focus was to get there and that’s exactly what we did. Now, when we arrived on the scene, Norfolk’s police department was all over the place. They even had the entrance of the main strip blocked off. So, I was forced to park my car, get out, and walk the rest of the way.

  Teresa didn’t mind at all. She figured it would be best to walk through the projects, since the streets were flooded with bystanders and those same people had to be talking.

  “Come on, let’s go this way,” Teresa insisted as she led me alongside this rundown apartment building with a dimly lit light pole.

  After walking through one hundred yards of broken glass and dirty syringes, we ended up in the exact spot she intended for us to be in, which was among a crowd of both young and old residents who stood directly across the street from where Eugene was gunned down. The yellow tape was very noticeable, and it was squared off around two light poles and two trees. Detectives and police officers were busy questioning people, while the forensic specialists scoured the entire area for anything that would link them to Eugene’s killer. As we continued to stand there, two young, ghetto-looking chicks, who had to be in their early twenties, sparked up the conversation amongst themselves about what happened. They were talking very low, but it wasn’t low enough. So, I got an earful.

  “I know one thing, dat nigga Bing Bing better not show his face around here for a while, if he know what’s good for him,” the first girl said.

  “Girl, that nigga don’t give a fuck about no police!” the second girl said. “Especially, when it comes to some off-the-wall junkie trying to steal his shit.”

  “Oh trust me, dat nigga cares! Because as soon as he popped that fiend in his back with dem two hot balls, his ass got the hell out of Dodge,” the second girl continued.

  “Shit
, you would’ve done the same thing,” replied the first girl.

  “I sho’ would’ve, ’cause a bitch like me ain’t trying to go to jail.”

  “And neither is that nigga Bing Bing. So, he better sit his ass down and chill out for a couple of days until this shit blows over.”

  “It wouldn’t matter either way, because ain’t nobody out here gon’ tell dem crackers Bing Bing shot that dried up-ass dope fiend. Shit, dat nigga had it coming to him anyway, after that switch-a-roo stunt he pulled on dat nigga Stinka last week,” the second girl concluded.

  “Oh yeah, I remember that,” the first girl said, going off memory. “Stinka beat the shit out of him with that iron bat for trying to switch three dummies for real dope.”

  “He sho’ did. But, it didn’t slow that junkie down one bit.”

  “It sho’ didn’t. And now his ass is gone.”

  “That’s what that dope will do to you,” the second girl summarized and then their voices faded out.

  Now others in the crowd had their own version of what transpired, but it was more hearsay than anything. And after Teresa and I figured that we had heard enough, it was time to move on.

  “I know you heard everything those two hoes were saying about your brother,” I said as we maneuvered our way through the crowd.

  Teresa sighed heavily and said, “Yeah, I heard them bitches running off at the mouth! That’s why I walked away from their asses.”

  “Well, at least we know a guy named Bing Bing killed your brother.”

  “Yep. And all I got to do is let the police know too,” she replied in a nonchalant manner as she continued to march her way out of the crowd.

  “What are we getting ready to do now?”

  Pointing directly at a tall, straggly-looking woman who couldn’t be but twenty feet away, Teresa said, “I’m going on there to talk to Zena.”

  “Who is she?” I asked, following her.

  “Some chick Eugene use to bring to my apartment a while back.”

  “You think she saw what happened?”

  “That’s what I’m about to find out,” she told me as she proceeded toward this lady.

  Now when Teresa initially approached this woman, she had to jog her memory about where she knew her from. And when she realized who Teresa was, she opened up to her instantly.

  “Come follow me over here,” she instructed Teresa in an inconspicuous manner and led us only a couple of feet from where she was initially standing. And without further ado, she said, “I know you came out here to find out what happened to your brother. So, I’m gon’ be straight up with you, ’cause that was my partner and he didn’t deserve to be shot like he did.”

  “Did you see him get killed?” Teresa didn’t hesitate to ask her.

  “Nah, I was around the corner, copping me some of that Predator dem New York boys got. But, I do know that it was a case of get-back.”

  “Whatcha mean?” Teresa wanted to know.

  “Well, a couple days ago, Eugene snatched up one of Bing Bing’s packs of dope and he would’ve gotten away with it, but one of these junkies ’round here ratted him out. So, I heard when Eugene came back out here to score a couple pills from this other nigga, Bing Bing ran up on him and shot him.”

  “So, how does this Bing Bing guy look?” Teresa pressed on.

  “He’s got like the average height for a man. But, he’s black as shit, with long dreads that he keeps in a ponytail.” Zena said. “And you can catch him driving a white Dodge Magnum too.”

  “Do you know his real name?”

  “Nah, baby girl. Mu’fuckas like me don’t go around asking niggas what’s their real name. Shit, all we care about is how good their product is.”

  “Where is Bing Bing from?”

  “I’m not sure. But, I know he ain’t from ’round here.”

  “Do you think somebody out here could’ve told the police what you just told me?”

  “I doubt it. ’Cause these people out here ain’t trying to get in some shit dat don’t even concern dem.”

  “Well, how often does this Bing Bing guy come out here to hustle?”

  “He comes out here damn near every day. But, I doubt if he comes out here anytime soon, after what happened tonight,” Zena concluded and then her attention was drawn in another direction. “Hold up a minute,” she said as she looked beyond my shoulders. So, naturally Teresa and I both turned around to see what she was looking at. But, it was only another dope fiend chick, trying to get her attention. “You ready?” Zena yelled out.

  “Yeah, come on,” the other woman said.

  Zena looked back at Teresa and I and said, “Hey look, I gotta make a quick run. But, I’ll be right back.”

  Knowing good and well that this chick was lying out of both sides of her mouth, Teresa said okay anyway and watched her haul ass on across the street. It was evident that she was on a mission to get high and she wasn’t going to let no one stand in the way of that. So, there was no point in us trying to get any more information out of her.

  Now, as the police detectives began to disperse from the scene, so did the residents, which was our cue to get out of there as well.

  When we arrived back at Teresa’s apartment, I decided it to spend the night at her place, so she wouldn’t be alone. This was a trying time for her, so I wanted nothing else but to be there for her.

  The Following Morning

  The next morning Teresa and I met with the homicide detectives down at the coroner’s office to identify Eugene’s body. The process didn’t take long at all. After she filled out and signed the appropriate paperwork, she talked briefly with the detectives about the conversation she’d had with Zena—who she didn’t mention by name—and the events that led up to her brother being killed. They took down her information and told her that they would follow up with that lead and get back with her if anything came of it. Teresa said, “Fine,” and we departed.

  “How long do you think it’s going to take for them to find that Bing Bing character?” I asked the moment we got into my car.

  Teresa began to gaze out at window at God knows what and said, “I don’t know. I just really hope that they can catch him.”

  “Oh, don’t worry! They will.”

  “I sure hope so,” she said with little enthusiasm.

  I rubbed her across her shoulders in a circular motion and instead of dwelling on the what-ifs, I switched up the conversation and asked her how Eugene was looking to her on that table.

  Before she answered, she looked into my eyes, as if she was searching for the right words to say. After a brief sense of hesitation on her part, she finally came out and said, “He looked like he was ’sleep to me.”

  “I thought the same thing,” I told her. “But, you could tell that he had a hard life.”

  “Hard ain’t the word. That man has been through some shit in his life since he started fucking around with that needle. I mean, it’s crazy because he used to have a damn good job at the Ford Plant before they did that big layoff. It seems like after that happened, everything started falling apart on him.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember that because he lost his house and his car behind that.”

  “Yep. And do you remember that bitch he was married to named Stephanie?”

  “Oh yeah, I remember her.”

  “Well, do you remember when she packed her shit up and took both of his kids from him because money was getting low and he couldn’t find another job?”

  “Oh yeah, I remember all of that,” I replied as I visualized how that whole incident went down. “And you know what?” I continued. “He wasn’t right after she did that shit to him, too.”

  “Hell nah, he wasn’t right. And I believe that’s what sent him to the streets, too.”

  “Now that I think about it, you’re probably right. But, let me ask you this.”

  “Go ’head,” she insisted.

  “Have you called your mother and told her about Eugene getting shot?”

  “Y
eah, I called her right before you came by last night.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “She really didn’t have much to say.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, she’s sort of been expecting something like this to happen to him since he’s drifted off into that lifestyle. So, it didn’t come as no surprise to her when I told her. But, she did tell me that she’ll be in town by tomorrow morning to take care of his funeral arrangements.”

  “What about your other relatives? Are they gonna fly here too?”

  “Girl please, my other relatives could care less about my brother. They’re probably glad he finally put himself out of his own misery.”

  “Damn, that’s sad!”

  “It sure is. And that’s why I don’t deal with none of their asses right now to this day,.” She made a face like she had a bad taste in her mouth.

  “Well, what about your father?”

  “My mom will probably bring him. But, he’s so far gone now with his Alzheimer’s that it’s going to be impossible for him to even remember he had a damn son.”

  “Wait, I thought he was going through that dementia stage?”

  “He was. But just recently, my mother called me and told me it progressed.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Don’t be sorry, ’cause when that motherfucker was in his right mind, he used to terrorize the hell out of me and my brother while we were growing up. And I couldn’t understand, for the life of me, why he treated us the way he did and never told us that he loved us.”

  “He was probably was dealing with some issues of his own,” I said in effort to downplay her father’s behavior.

  But, as our conversation progressed, her facial expressions began to turn more sour by the minute. So I took it upon myself to change the subject to something more pleasing to the ear, which worked, because Teresa calmed right on down.

  So, far the police hadn’t been able to apprehend this Bing Bing guy for killing Eugene and it was tearing Teresa apart. But, she did manage to put those feelings on the back burner and solely deal with laying him to rest, which was a very sad occasion. I guess shit had gotten too overwhelming for her because in the middle of the service, she fell out cold. Me and a couple of her relatives had to get her some medical attention. She came back around not too long after the services had ended and cursed out a few of her family members, while the hurt she was suffering from was fresh on her mind.