Page 27 of A Boy is a Gun: Part I
Makayla is a small-time dealer. She doesn’t operate out of a trap house but works at colleges, coffee shops, and grocery stores. You meet her in the pasta aisle to pick up tortellini and get some molly. She’s not big enough to get arrested ordark enoughfor the police to care.
Que is quiet for a minute before he pulls off his sunglasses with a broad smile. “I knew I should’ve brought my camera!”
“Roadie did the right thing by claiming the drugs weren’t his, but he didn’t pinpoint the girl.” I look back at Que. “But I’m sure after a brief investigation, and I’ll find out what I’m looking for.”
“A detective who’s been trying to take us down for many years has a sister who possibly does drugs?” Que shook his head. “So, instead of going after her, he’s going after you, after all of us, instead?”
“That’s usually how it works.” We enter the elevator and watch the numbers go up to our awaiting floor. We’re instructed by security where to go, and we head there. “I’m here to bail out Roadie and start putting everything together.”
“You think Ethan will show up today?” Que asks.
“Oh, he will,” I look over at him, “they arrested his sister for interfering with a police investigation, so yeah, he’ll be here.” As Roadie was being detained, Makayla tried to stop the cops from arresting him. If she were yelling at them, it would be one thing. The moment you get violent with an officer (notice how that only works with a certain complexion?), they don’t like that.
“This just gets more interesting by the day,” Que shakes his head, “you are the scapegoat for everything.”
“I’m used to it.” I sigh. “It’s easier to blame another person for the faults in one’s life than to take accountability and change.”
After listening to various other defendants cop their plea, it’s Roadie’s turn. Roadie is in the standard orange jumpsuit that, I have to admit, is quite becoming on him. He pleaded not guilty, and they set his bail at a hundred thousand, which I immediately paid in full.
Once bail is taken care of, Que and I walk out of the courtroom with a few other members of the Administration meeting us downstairs. We’re all dressed the same, and there’s no bad-dressed one amongst us.
Every suit is tailored and of the highest quality. I’ve learned that if you dress well, you’ll be treated as such. You dress like you’re some TV preacher, and people will think you’re the scam artist you are.
Roadie greets us a short while later in the same t-shirt and jeans he was arrested in. He stands out amongst us. “Hey yo, Cam,” he gives me a bro hug, “thanks for this. You were the only one who could help me.”
I was the only one whowantedto help him, is the honest answer. Roadie doesn’t burn bridges, but people get tired of reading the same story with the same predictable chapters. “Not a problem. I know you would do the same for me.” He would, but there’s a difference: Roadie would try to set the jail on fire to get me out.
“I appreciate that, man.” He yawns. “I want to go home and sleep, dude. I’ve been up all night trying to make sure no one was going to try to fuck me in the ass.”
“I’m sure that wouldn’t have happened in jail,” I assure Roadie. He says the same thing every time he gets out, and of course, I repeat the same thing every time he gets out.
“You don’t know those dudes in there, man,” he shakes his head, “the last time they saw a woman in person was when Bush was in office, and I mean both of them.”
“Are you hungry?” I offer, and he nods. “Let’s get something to eat, and then I’ll take you home. We’ll talk later after you have some food and rest.” I promise him. I need him to be as coherent as possible for everything I’m about to do.
“Sounds good to me.” Roadie replies, and we all start walking out of the courtroom until a familiar voice stops us.
“Nice performance back there,” Ethan comments and claps his hands. We all turn around to watch Ethan and Lisa walk toward us, and they both have permanent smirks on their faces. They are disgusted and yet not surprised by the turn of events. “I felt you were going to get your homeboy out, and here you are.”
“Here I am,” I greet Ethan and Lisa, “you honestly didn’t think he was going to spend one night in prison, did you?” I smile at Ethan.
Ethan walks closer to me, and there’s already a divide between us in the courthouse. “The moment I find out you had a role in those drugs that were on your friend over there, it’s over, Page,” Ethan warns me.
“It’s over, Page.” I mock as the fellas’ snicker behind me. “You’ve been saying the same shit since I was 16. All that jacking off you do over me, I hope you’re washing your sheets.”
Ethan’s eyes narrow at me, and I know that asshole is just itching to do something. He won’t do anything at the courthouse because that would be spectacularly stupid. He’ll wait when we’re alone, and the prospect of him not going to jail would be on the table. “If I were to raid Fresh Espresso, how quickly do you think Taylor would change her tune about you?” Ethan smiles.
“If you were to raid Fresh Espresso, how quickly do you think Taylor would change her tune aboutyou?” I smile back, and the fellas snicker behind me.
Ethan sighs and shakes his head. “Page, I know you. I know everything about you. Please don’t mistake my kindness for weakness.” He begins to walk away.
“Detective,” I call out to him, and he stops. “You graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia in 1996. You always knew you wanted to be a cop and wasted no time becoming one. You were at the top of your class at the police academy. You worked your way up to detective, working long 12-, 14-, and even 16-hour days. You know how to read the mind of a criminal so well that other police departments from around the nation call you for expertise.
“You love to listen to old-school R&B and have gone to many concerts featuring acts you’ve grown up listening to. You sometimes go out and get coffee, but you tend to make your own at home. You also try to watch your diet so you don’t stop by for junk food as much as you used to. You sometimes get a beer from the fridge when you go home at night. If it is a tough case, like those involving children, you tend to go for a whiskey neat. You love Uncle Nearest whiskey, and it seems to be your favorite.
“You might watch a little T.V., but if you do, it’s background noise as you flip through your phone. Judging by how much you swiped, I can tell you were on the dating scene for a while. You stop swiping when you start dating someone and would spend an unhealthy amount on the phone with that person. Eventually, she began to come over.
“And you two have gotten rather serious rather quickly, right?” I nod as Ethan turns to face me. “She did live out of state but made the hard sacrifice to move in with you. And she wasn’t on good terms with her family, was she? But now things are getting better with them. Her mother comes over a lot more, and they do vlogging videos because they both love to cook. She’s still on iffy terms with her father, but you know that. Her father’s a bit of a cad.
