A Rose In Harlem

9.0

   It was two am when the burner phone rang, he rolled over yawning and mistook it for his real phone. That was until he saw the time, he went through the nightstand and shuffled around in the dark before answering it.

  "I found a leak" Titans voice came through the phone and Chicago woke up at that one.

"How did you- how-

"Let's be real, we both know I got connections everywhere in this town" he spoke in a hushed tone. "I've been paying off cops for years— now the feds is something else but I'll be out of here when I find out all I need to know and get rid of everything I need to get rid of" 

  "So what do you need from me?" He asked Titan explained where and what to do- he told him he had a car waiting for him at one of the traps, that he only had about 2 hours to do everything and then he had some guys coming to take care of the rest, it was trash day on that street  and they had some guys on the truck ready to crush up the body and take it to the dump.  Chicago was already putting his stuff in a back pack ready to start heading down the street towards the trap.

  "Be careful Chicago"

"I'm always careful T- don't tell me your doubting me"

"The streets are getting ugly kid- I'll call you tomorrow night- be alive to pick up"  with that he hung up, Chicago shook his head a bit as he locked his house door and walked down the street the only light so far was the street lights. He knew that was his own way of saying he cared about him but Chicago never messed up before so why would he think he would now. A part of him was glad he was back out doing stuff like this, not that he was itching to kill someone but more so it felt normal to him. He was good at it, it wasn't him  struggling through math or history, or him trying not to walk out of the slow ass 9-5. He usually made real money off of stuff like this. Triple what the drug dealers made- another reason why everyone wanted to do what he did but not everyone could. You needed a strong stomach. By the age of 12 Chicago had already seen 6  dead bodies and one of them was his mother. Dead bodies stopped having a effect on him after you look at your mothers lifeless body.  Music played through one earbud and the other  his head on a swivel once again but he wasn't worried to much about it. He had several guns on him and the worst thing that could happen wasn't someone trying to rob him but a cop seeing a black man with a hoodie and trying to play hero.

   Within 40 minutes he arrived at the trap which meant he didn't have much time to change and get over there. When he saw whose trap it was he chuckled to himself. Trystan was a money hungry fool- but a good get away driver when he needed to be. The trap was empty and Trystan was rolling up on the couch. "I know you lying! I ain't think it was gonna be my boy!" He said with a wide smile. "Business with you is too easy" he cheered and Chicago only dapped  him up.

  "Do you know who it is?"

"The less I know the better- you just let me know if I gotta come in from the car" Chicago changed into a all back fit down to the gloves. They got in the car and he hit the blunt a few times Looking out the window. The car rides there were always quiet, he had to get into the zone. This job was all about departmentalizing your feelings. He had to become completely emotionless and focus at the task at hand. Chicago was surprised that when the car stopped he knew whose house it was. A old head, of course. Wanted to be Titans right hand man a few years back. But Titan declined it and now he understood why. Money rules everything and that's not always a good thing because money can rule loyalty. He got out the car pulled his ski mask over his head. Something still made him pull his hood over as she snuck in the back. He heard the noise of dogs and exhaled- everyone and they mama wanted dogs these days.

He wasn't no dog killer that's for sure- the sound of them he could tell they were big and Chicago couldn't let them bite him, it would leave blood. So he went back to the side of the fence and opened the gate- looking for someplace he could hide once he found it he got to work picking the lock. The door creaked open he threw something towards the gate and the dogs instantly ran out of it- he snuck in the back door shutting it behind him and looked around- he avoided to look at any pictures or read anything. If you knew about the family you would feel worse. He stepped lightly checking each room for the man he was looking for. Last time he was here was straight out of juvie. Titan started to take him places with him showing him what he did. He took him here to show him that he didn't always take from the streets. This guy use to travel across state lines with his big truck importing drugs when he did his CDL jobs. He was good as he never got caught but he was a loose end- knew just enough information to buy himself and whoever he cared about a spot in witness protection after he squealed like a pig. We couldn't have that. Slowly making his way up the stairs he looked only at the stairs avoiding the pictures on the wall. Sometimes they made it hard but maybe because Chicago never had a loving family dynamic he also didn't mind if he caught a glimpse at a picture or so.